the Wind Master
by TheLastGlassRose
Summary: “What were you doing with Konari!” Katara asked. Before he could answer, Konari had whooshed pass her mother on an air scooter, dismounting in front of the stranger.“Please, Mama! Leave him alone! He was only teaching me to airbend!
1. Prologue

Hi! I have a new story again! I am rather excited about this one. How many chapters it will be I don't know. But I hope you enjoy it! Review!

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_**The Wind Master**_

_**Prologue**_

_**Escapade**_

The dark figure ran swiftly south in the Earth Kingdom. Shielded by the shadows of the forest, he quickly made his way going south in the Earth Kingdom. He could have been what others considered a wanted man. After the Avatar mysteriously died after defeated the evil ex-Princess Azula, the figure took this chance to escape. He refused to stop in the towns for fear of capture, although even if he did step into town, he most likely wouldn't be recognized for the frenzy that the world had put into. Now that their precious Avatar was gone, people began looking for the new one. The world perched precariously on the border of sanity and insanity. The man took this to his advantage though and decided to execute the plan he had for five years now.

He decided that nowhere in the Earth Kingdom or Fire Nation would do for a hideout, for they were too close together and they were too crazed about the Avatar's death, which took place on the coast between the two nations. The Northern Watertribe wouldn't do for it was to close to the others, and it also was thrown into frenzy for the next Avatar would be of the Water Tribes. That left the Southern Watertribe. Although they too would be looking for the next Avatar it wouldn't be too bad. Besides, he had a score to settle there with someone anyway.

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Alright what do you think? Should I continue? I know this is really short but it is just a prologue. They rest of the chapters will be much longer I assure you. On the subject of the story: I killed Aang! (_Or did I???) _Mwahahahahaha! This mysterious figure I might as well introduce as the Wind Master but for different reasons than you might think! Please review!


	2. Chapter 1

Hey! Here is the next chapter of the Wind Master! I'm glad people like it! I'm not going to say much here so enjoy the story! Please review! Sorry I haven't updated for a while ( by my standards)! I like broke my left hand. As I type to you know I am only using my right hand!

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**The Wind Master**

**Ch. 1**

**The Widow's Daughter**

"Hey, Mama?"

"Yes, Baby?"

"I'm thorsty."

"Here, why don't you get a cup and I'll get you some lemonade."

Katara and her young five-year-old Konari sat in the kitchen of their icy home. The South Pole really had come a long way during the past 10 years, rivaling the beauty even of their sister tribe. When the war ended, Hakoda had been appointed chief of the tribe. Under his rule, the South Pole had flourished. The Gaang had all returned to the South Pole after helping restore the world for about a year. With the help of the other waterbenders from the North Pole, the city soon rivaled the beauty and status that once their sister tribe held. Eventually, when the Gaang had come of age, Toph and Sokka had gotten together and Aang with Katara. For a while everyone was happy. For a while…

Suddenly Sokka burst through the front door and ran straight to the kitchen. After taking a look at her brother's face, the smile Katara had previously worn turned upside down. "What's wrong, Sokka?" she asked concerned.

"News…" he said panting. "An Earth Kingdom soldier… arrived with news…" he continued struggling to catch his breath. He looked around as if someone else was listening to their conversation. After a moment of composing his self, he leaned forward and whispered, "… about the Avatar…"

Katara's eyes went wide about the statement. For Sokka to be out of breath this either had to be really good news or really bad news. She was guessed it to be the later. "We'll be right back, Baby," she told Konari before gesturing Sokka to follow her. She led him swiftly through the house and up the stairs. When they had made it about halfway down the hall she stopped abruptly causing Sokka to continue on for a moment before going back to her. She stood facing a wall with a look on her face that read whether she wanted to do something or not. After a moment, she lifted a hand and brought it back down. When the water cleared it revealed a small dark room. Stepping in she repeated the same motion, this time creating a window. When the light entered the room, Sokka could see it to be quite small and well cushioned, incense hung from the ceiling, and a small table stood off to the side.

"What is this place?" he asked.

"Aang had built it. It was his meditation room," Katara said gesturing around the place. After closing the wall back up, Katara seated herself down on a cushion and Sokka followed suit. "So… what was it about the Avatar, you wanted to talk about?" she asked warily.

It took a moment to spew it out but when he did, there were tears in his eyes. "He's dead," he choked out quietly.

"What?" Katara breathed.

"I said he's dead, Katara!" Sokka yelled jumping up. "They killed him! Azula's followers killed him and now he's gone! I swear, if I EVER see one of those rebels again I will put an abrupt end to ALL of them and trust me it won't be pretty!" he continued. Although Sokka had continued to walk around the room ranting his revenge, Katara sat there quietly thinking to herself.

_Aang is dead?! No! That can't be right there has to be some mistake!_

Sokka had paused when Katara hadn't answered him. He looked over to her slumped form her eyes brimmed with tears. Sokka's sympathy took over and he quieted his tone. "Oh, Katara… I'm so sorry…" he said walking over to her. But before he could reach her she sunk into the ice, disappearing from view. After looking around the room for a moment he looked out the window to see her running towards the stables. _She needs some time to herself…_ Sokka decided. He turned around to leave the room, realizing that Katara had left him in there! "Katara!"

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Katara ran all the way to the stables, forgetting Sokka in the secret room. She practically dived into Appa's side. That's when the tears came.

_No! You were supposed to come back! You were supposed to come back so that we could start our lives together! You were supposed to be here when Konari said her first word! When she took her first step! When she had her first day of school! You promised!_ Katara thought to her self, all the while when her tears came. _You promised…_

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(flashback)

It had been a perfect day, just two weeks after Konari was born. The family had decided to go for a picnic in the city's new park, just the three of them. They had barely begun eating and enjoying their day when the first yells came. Without hesitation they had packed up and run to see what the problem was. A rebel ship had landed. Azula herself, Queen of the Rebels she was called, stood on the shore in front of Hakoda and a group of waterbenders Katara had trained herself. Azula stood with a wicked smirk while her rebels terrorized the poor inhabitants of the Southern Watertribe. Katara and Aang had run up to Hakoda shortly after Azula had arrived; not yet seeing the ex-Princess. "Dad! What's going on?" Katara asked desperately.

"It's the Rebels! They…!" Hakoda was cut off by a wave of blue fire that roared just barely above their heads.

"Hello Avatar…" a cold voice said. Aang quickly turned to see her. At that moment all action stopped and everyone turned to see the pair on the beach. Aang narrowed his eyes and shot a dangerous look toward Azula.

"What do you want with us?" he hissed. Azula's smirk grew wider.

"Why, Avatar. After all of the years we have known each other, I'm surprised you have to ask. So let's cut to the chase, shall we?" She replied in a low growling tone.

"Aang! Don't do it!" Katara yelled bursting through the crowd, apparently leaving Konari behind with her father. Without even seeming to acknowledging Katara's appearance Azula continued.

"Come quietly, Avatar! Or else your precious girlfriend gets it!" she said motioning for some rebels. Katara was about to protest Azula's last statement as incorrect, but Aang made a slight motion that only she would recognize to be quiet.

Keeping his calm façade, Aang spoke, "If I go with you will you leave the city in peace?" After a slight pause of consideration, Azula nodded.

"Aang, no!" Katara protested running forward to him. While embracing her tightly he whispered a few unheard things to her before kissing her one last time. Katara nodded whipping tears away, agreeing to something Aang had said. With one last glance he followed Azula to her ship.

While others where instructed to return to their homes, Katara stood on the shore watching the ship until it disappeared on the horizon. Somewhere, her child cried for its mother.

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(end of flashback)

While Katara's daughter stayed unaware of the tragedy – even that the Avatar whom Uncle Sokka had spoken about was her father – Konari set about a little adventure of her own. As her mother wept in the stable and as her uncle was locked in a secret room, Konari snuck out of the house at night to go to her favorite place between the two walls just behind her house. Looking left and right to makes sure no one was watching she airbended herself to the other side,

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The cloaked man had made it to the Southern Watertribe. Unseen and hidden by the shadows he made his way to the first of the two walls that surrounded the city.

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She had been sneaking out her for the past week to experiment with her newfound powers, having just discovered them a first time before. She hadn't told anyone not even her mother. She decided to first practice airbending before telling her mom, just incase she was the new Avatar. So far she had taught herself several techniques. Now she was trying a new move she had thought up this morning.

Her temper that she had inherited from her mother was about to take over after failing to do the move several times when a soft chuckle came from the top of the outer wall behind her. "You need to relax more."

Konari jumped several feet in the air! She turned around quickly to see the dark figure jump down from the wall. "If you relax more with the air, the move will follow through smoother," he continued, demonstrating the move with waterbending. After swirling the water around the girl before him a few times causing her to giggle, he returned the water to the ground. "Now you try with the air. And remember, relax," he instructed. Nodding, Konari turned around proceeded to try the move again, this time succeeding.

"I did it!" the young girl exclaimed. With a large grin she turned around to face the man. Although his body was covered with a dark cloak, the moonlight illuminated his pale face and bright green eyes (**A/N** yes I mean green). After a little bow of gratitude, Konari proceeded to ask, "Your really good at this teaching stuff! Could you, I mean if you want to, teach me Air Magic?"

The stranger smiled. "Air_bending_ not Air Magic. And I don't see why I can't teach you. Besides, it might be fun!" With a squeal of delight Konari launched her self at the stranger, hugging his legs, before jumping back a little embarrassed.

"Sowwy," she said.

"No, no! It's ok I don't mind," the man replied.

With another smile Konari leapt about singing, "I have a teacher! I have a teacher!" When she stopped her dancing she found the strange man to be gone, just like the wind. With a small smile she whispered, "Goodnight, Wind Master…" before returning to her home with a new secret.

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How you like? Sorry it took so long. Like I said I broke my left hand. Any way, when Konari says things in a weird way let's just say it is her little kid accent. There at the beginning for instance when she say "thorsty" instead of thirsty I kinda modeled it after this cousin I have who is like really young and says stuff in a cute accent like that. Oh well if you don't get it you just kinda have to hear it to understand how cute it really is. Anyway I hope you like this chapter! Please review!


	3. Chapter 2

Hey! Sorry I haven't updated for a while! My left hand is in a cast so it's kinda hard for me to type. This chapter might be a little short but I don't know. Anyway I won't say much here! Just read and review, m'kay?

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**The Wind Master**

**Ch. 2**

**Busted!**

"Great job! You've really been practicing!" the Wind Master praised.

Konari had been sneaking out in the middle of the night to train with the Wind Master for a few nights now. Since her mother seemed to be in a state of depression for reasons Konari couldn't understand, it had been quite easy. Konari would often rush to finish dinner, rush to bathe, and pretend to go to bed for lessons. The Wind Master often appeared when Konari did, hopping over the wall from his camp on the other side of the outer wall.

Smiling brightly Konari bowed. "Thank you, Sifu Teacher," she replied happily. After coming back up from bowing, the two looked at each other before bursting out laughing.

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Katara was awoken to the sound of a familiar laugh. "Aang?" she said groggily. It only took her a moment to remember that Aang was dead. Willing herself not to cry, she heard the laughter again. _Must be Konari…_ Katara told herself, knowing that Konari did often sound a lot like Aang. Getting up from bed and putting a robe on, Katara walked down to her daughter's room. "Konari?" she whispered. Opening the door she looked over to where her daughter appeared to be sleeping. Momo slept at the foot of the bed. "Konari?" Katara whispered again. Walking over the bed she realized that what she thought was her daughter was actually a pillow tucked carefully under the covers. "Konari!" Katara yelled desperately. _This can't be happening! First Aang and now Konari!_ Katara thought sadly. During the quiet moment of her muses, Katara heard the laughter once again coming in through Konari's window. Looking out, she searched for the source of the laughter. Having no luck, she turned back to the sleeping Momo. "Momo! Momo, I need you to help me find Konari!" she said disturbing him. He jumped up chattering in an angered tone. "Please, Momo! Please help me find Konari!" she begged. For what could have passed as rolling his eyes in Katara's mind, Momo leapt to the windowsill and swooped down. Waterbending herself down after him, she followed.

Momo continued on until he reached the inner wall that was behind the house. Pausing to check if Katara was following, he jumped down to the other side. Reaching the wall Katara could hear her daughter's excited chattering. "Momo! Where did you come from?" A pause. "Oh! This is Momo! My mama said that her old friend the Avatar gave Momo and his flying bison Appa to her 'cause they were really sad when she had to come home. Momo's nice though. He won't bite…" Trying to determine what was happening on the other side of the wall, Katara pressed her ear against it, not minding the chilling cold. "So we were going over… What's wrong? … There's someone on the other side of the wall?" _Uh oh…_ Before Katara's could do something, Konari's head popped over the top of the wall. "Uh-oh!" she said before disappearing. "It's my mama!" Konari whispered.

"Uh oh…" came another softer voice. Realizing someone else was on the other side of the wall with her daughter, Katara waterbended her way over to the other side just in time to see the tip of a dark cloak disappear over the other side of the outer wall. Leaving her daughter standing there, Katara pursued the stranger.

She could hear her daughter behind her calling "Mama, wait! Don't hurt him!" Not listening, she continued the chase. Ahead of her she could see the cloaked figure running. Finally, the stranger had nowhere else to run, coming to the coast where the ice met the water. Turning around and making sure to keep his face well hidden, the stranger got into a stance. "Who are you?!" Katara demanded. Not waiting for his answer she sent an array of ice daggers at him. He simply waterbended the ice back into the ocean.

"Please! I won't fight! No matter how well a woman waterbends I refuse to fight back!" the stranger pleaded in a surprisingly soft voice for someone facing Katara. Apparently he wasn't from the Watertribes.

"What were you doing with Konari?!" Katara asked. Before he could answer, Konari had whooshed pass her mother on an air scooter, dismounting in front of the stranger.

"Please, Mama! Leave him alone! He was only teaching me to airbend. He thinks I might be the next…"

"Konari asked me to teach her bending. I would never hurt her I swear. I had come here searching for someone," the Wind Master interrupted. Katara was still stunned over the fact that her daughter was airbending around. _Perhaps… _Katara thought to herself. Jarring herself from her thoughts she continued to interrogate the stranger.

"Who were you looking for?" she asked. The Wind Master removed his hood. Katara's breath was almost taken away at the sight of his delicate and pale face and his bright green eyes. He looked so foreign to the world, a young man of 17 or 18. By looking into his eyes she could see a great amount of sorrow and wisdom. She almost felt sorry for intimidating him so.

"I was sent here by a very reliable source to find you, Master Katara," the young man said.

"Who sent you?" Katara demanded in a softer tone.

"I used to be a captive of the Fire Nation Rebels. My cellmate told me of you and said that if I wanted to find a teacher, you were the one I should see. He told me that he thought you were by far the greatest waterbender in the world," he replied.

"But whom sent you? What was his name? Who was he to know me?" Katara asked fully intrigued by the fact that this man had been a captive of the Fire Nation rebels.

"He told me he was your best friend, the Avatar did," he answered. Katara gasped. Aang had sent this man? Aang had known and shared a cell with this man? Perhaps this stranger knew of how his cellmate died. "Master Katara?" the young man asked again after Katara had escaped to her thoughts for a while.

"I'm sorry. Yes the Avatar had been my best friend. I had taught him waterbending. I'm glad that he was the one who recommended you. But as you know, the Avatar died defeating Azula. I'm not sure I would want to resurface old memories…" Katara said softly.

"I'm sorry for your loss. But before the Avatar died he wanted me to tell you he would be back," the young man said. Katara looked over to where he daughter sat in the sand. Catching her gaze, the young man nodded. "He told me that he would come back to your daughter, that he would live through her. He didn't want to be reborn for he knew that he might not recognize you ever again. He showed me a few basics of airbending to teach her using my waterbending," the young man continued. After taking a moment to think, Katara nodded, agreeing to teach the man.

"Alright. I'll do it. Should we practice where you are staying or…"

"I've no abode here. I simply make myself a fire and a small shelter of ice for the night. Maybe I could meet you where you live for training," the young man interrupted. Katara was sad to hear that the young man had no home. He looked so delicate and fragile that Katara was tempted to wrap her arms around him. After being a prisoner of the Fire Nation Rebels, this man didn't deserve to face the harsh elements all alone out here.

"Why don't you stay with us? We have an extra room for you and it would be nice to have some extra help, you know, to pay for your teaching," Katara suggested.

"Oh no, I couldn't accept that. I wouldn't want to be a burden. I'm fine out here, really," he protested.

"Please, Wind Master? Would you please come home with us?" Konari spoke up for the first time. Casting his eyes down at the little girl he smiled and kneeled down to her eye level.

"I don't know. I mean if I really can?" he said glancing up at Katara with his large green eyes. His gaze was enough to make Katara's memories of Aang resurface. How many times had Aang given her that same look?

"Please? I promise you it wouldn't be a burden. I don't know how I would live with myself if I let you stay out here alone. I know what it's like to not have a proper bed to sleep in from traveling all around the world with the Avatar. I insist that you stay with us during your training," Katara said.

Standing up, the Wind Master smiled and gave a bow. "Yay!" Konari shouted wrapping her arms around the Wind Master. He smiled wider and lifted her up into the air. The two laughed and twirled until Konari fell asleep. Katara smiled as she watched the two. _It would be nice to have some more company… _she thought to herself. They made their way back through the walls and to Katara's home with a new friend in their company.

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I kinda ran out of ideas at the end. Anyway… OMG! I GOT A NEW COMPUTER! It's an iMac and it's freakin' awesome! The keyboard is so flat! I luv this new computer. Anyway… I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please review!


	4. Chapter 3

Hey! I get my cast off yesterday! I'm so glad! Anyway, I'm glad people are enjoying the story! I hoped it would have that air of uncertainty about it. Originally this story was going to be only like 3 or 4 chapters long but I decided to double it! I wanted to put more action in it, even though I'm sure it doesn't seem very actiony right now. Please review! Tell me if I am doing anything wrong or what you want to see in future chapters!

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**the Wind Master**

**Ch. 3**

**That's Life**

(Katara's POV)

After the events that took place outside of the outer wall, things at home seemed so much more… brighter. The wind master, Yang he said is his name, is great help and company. After being a single mom for 5 years it is great having some help around the house. He helps in the kitchen, with Appa and Momo, and around the house in general. Appa and Momo love him although he is still a little apprehensive around them. With Konari, it's like they're in their own little world of fun and games. I've never seen my daughter so happy. Yang has really become like an older brother to her. Their daily antics are enough to put a smile on my face.

As far as our days go, it seems like we never have enough time to have the fun we do. Before, it was like we had too much time to sit around silently in our thoughts. In the mornings, I teach Yang waterbending. He's really picked up on it, like he's done it before, although he still has his mistakes. In the afternoon, after a nice lunch, Yang instructs 'Nari in the ways of airbending. Although all he can show her are the basics, it doesn't keep them from thinking up new moves. In the evening we often sit by the fireplace, telling stories, drinking tea, and having sweets. After a long day, I enjoy telling the two stories and in turn, they come up with their own stories too.

We are sitting now between the two walls. I look on as I watch the two work on airbending. They were working on a move that Yang had thought up this morning, although 'Nari's temper is starting to get the best of her.

"Aargh! Stupid move! I can't get it to work!" my daughter said frustrated. Yang chuckled softly.

"You just need to relax a little more. Shift your weight comfortably through the stances. See, like this…" he demonstrated with waterbending. He stood back upright after completing the move. "Now you try. Get into stance," he instructed. Following his orders, Konari dropped into a stance. After taking a moment of consideration, he walked over to her and corrected her stance slightly. I smiled. He was really good with her, so gentle yet commanding at the same time. "Perfect. Now try the move again." This time Konari preformed the move with no hassle. After completing the move she smiled broadly and turned to me.

"I did it, Mama!" she exclaimed happily.

"Yes, I saw you, 'Nari! Very good job!" I praised.

Interrupting Konari's little "glee-fest" a voice called out, "Katara? Where are you?" It was Sokka.

"Who's that?" Yang asked.

"It's my brother Sokka. I wonder what he wants," I replied.

"Let's see where he's at, 'Nari," Yang said hoisting Konari up on his shoulders.

After a moment to see where her uncle was, Konari yelled out, "Uncle Sokka! We're over here!" Apparently Sokka had been wondering around the back yard for in a second Sokka was at the wall talking to Konari.

"Konari! What are you doing on the other side of the wall?! You know you shouldn't be over there! Now where's your mother?" he said.

"I'm over here with her!" I yelled out to Sokka.

"Katara?!" I heard him say.

I waterbended a space for him to walk through to the other side. "Hi, Sokka," I greeted.

"Who's he?" Sokka asked, gesturing over to where Yang and Konari had resumed their lesson. For the time being, Yang was simply talking and showing Konari the next move.

"Oh, Yang, come over and meet my brother," I said.

Stopping his instructing, Yang walked over to us. "Sokka, this is Yang, my new student," Yang bowed in greeting. "Yang, this is my older brother Sokka. He lives across town with his wife Toph," I continued. Something in Yang's green eyes changed for the slightest moment, but after blinking whatever had been in them was gone.

"Nice to meet you, Sokka," Yang said shaking Sokka's hand.

"So you have the pleasure of being my sister's new student, huh? You don't look very much like a waterbender," Sokka said. I gave Sokka a look but Yang didn't seem to mind. Yang chuckled once more.  
"I know. During the first attack on the Southern Watertribe back during the war, my grandmother escaped when she was a young girl with her family to Ba Sing Se. She grew up and married an Earth Kingdom man, which is where I get my looks. I'm a waterbender though because my grandmother was a waterbender. I was told to find your sister for a master," Yang explained to Sokka.

"Who told you?" Sokka asked. Both Yang and I looked down at Sokka's question, our eyes darkened.

After a moment of silence, I spoke softly, "Aang told him…"

Sokka's eyes went wide at my statement. "Would you excuse us for a moment, Yang? I won't be long. Why don't you continue Konari's lesson?" I said kindly. Yang nodded and walked toward where the little girl sat in the snow.

"Aang told him?! How is that possible?!" Sokka exclaimed.

"He had been a prisoner of the Rebels and Aang's cellmate. Of course they probably talked," I said.

"Well, does he know how Aang died?" Sokka asked. I shrugged. "Does he even know that you were MARRIED to Aang? That Konari is Aang's child?" Sokka continued to ask. At this I shook my head "no".

"I haven't told him. He doesn't need to know right now. Neither does Konari. It was different when she was younger. I could easily hide the fact that her favorite bedtime story character is actually her father. For now, tell them nothing," Katara said. She looked over to where Konari and Yang practiced airbending. Sokka followed my gaze and what he saw made his eyes pop out of his head.

"Konari's an airbender?!" he exclaimed. I nodded.

"Yang and I think that she might be the next Avatar. For now they are just practicing the basics of airbending. Aang told Yang to teach her the basics with some waterbending."

"Hmmm… It's strange that Aang would entrust so much with this man…" Sokka said skeptically. I rolled my eyes.

"Sokka, Yang is a nice guy. He wouldn't hurt a fly. Besides. He's just staying with us until I finish teaching him waterbending," I said.

"He's staying with you guys?" Sokka asked.

"He had nowhere else to stay. It's not like he grew up here or anything."

"But that's what inns are for."

"Sokka!"

"Alright, alright, I get it! No harm in having a guest. Anyway, I did come over here for a reason," Sokka said.

"If it's for me to do your laundry the answer is 'no'," I said.

"No, no it's not that. Me and Toph wanted to take Kenai (**A/N **I drew a blank for names:( ) to Kyoshi Island for the day. We were wondering if you wanted to come. And if you did if we could take Appa," Sokka said.

"Sokka, that's a great idea! Konari will love to go to Kyoshi with her cousin! Yang should come too," I said smiling.

Konari had just been finishing up a move when I and Sokka walked back over. "Hey, you guys wanna go to Kyoshi Island? Sokka, his wife Toph, and their son Kenai are going on a day trip there and wanted to know if we wanted to come," I said brightly.

"Sounds fun! I hope we go Elephant Koi surfing! What do you think, Yang?" Konari said. Yang looked a little pale in the face for a moment but shook it off.

"S-sounds fun, 'Nari. When do we leave?" he said.

"How 'bout in half an hour? Just so we can get ready a bit," I said.

"Yay! Kyoshi Island!" Konari exclaimed.

"Y-yay…" Yang went on with much less enthusiasm.

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After a brief meeting between Yang and Toph and Kenai, we were off to Kyoshi Island. While I steered, Sokka and Yang were in deep conversation about something, while Konari was showing off some airbending trick to her cousin who watched with great interest. After flying for about three hours I looked out and saw Kyoshi Island about 50 miles away. "Hey, guys! There's Kyoshi Island!" I said. Everyone looked to where my finger was pointing and sure enough, there was Kyoshi Island.

The moment everyone's feet touched the ground, Toph became pale and her eyes went wide. In turn, Yang's eyes went wide also. Just as she was about to open her mouth, Yang practically dived at her. With one hand over her mouth her whispered something in her ear. "Would you excuse us for a moment? Toph and I are going to go and get rooms in an inn while you guys get all of the stuff together," Yang said after a moment to the group. Sokka's raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

Toph and Yang had been gone for a while when everyone had finally unloaded everything from Appa. What had once been a one-day excursion had turned into a weeklong vacation. After being informed by the manager which rooms had been booked for them, I set off to find Yang and Toph. After the first two of the three rooms being empty, I came to the third door, which was locked. I started to knock when I heard Yang and Toph talking in the room. Pressing my ear against the door, I listened.

"…Alright, but you have to come clean sooner or later," I heard Toph say.

"She should be able to find out for herself sooner or later. Katara is a smart woman," Yang said. _Toph must be sitting on the bed…._ I thought to myself, for surely the Earthbender would detect my presence outside the door by now if she were on the floor.

"Your mind still works in strange ways, I see," Toph spoke after a moment. I could hear Yang chuckle. "You haven't changed much either," he said.

_What does that mean…? _I thought once more. Feeling as if this conversation had gone on long enough, I knocked on the door.

"Guys, you done yet? We were thinking about having some lunch on the beach."

Hearing the door unlock, I stepped back.

"We were just finishing up, Sugar Queen. Let's go have some lunch," Toph said walking down the hall. Yang shrugged and followed her. Saving her thoughts and suspicions for later, I followed.

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Umm… ok I thought that the chapter was getting long by my standards. I won't say anything much about Yang and Toph's conversation though! I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Please review!

Happy Halloween!


	5. Chapter 4

Hey guys! I hope everyone had a Happy Halloween! I can't believe it's November already! Well this next chapter is where things really amp up! This chapter might not be so actiony but the next chapters are FULL of action, I hope… Anyway enjoy the story! Please review! Warning! Slight spoilers for "the Puppetmaster"!

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**the Wind Master**

**Ch. 4**

**Escape**

A couple of months had passed since the vacation to Kyoshi Island. The relationship between Katara, Konari, and Yang had grown closer and closer until a point where Yang was practically family. The village loved him. He was always willing to help out another person. Although this man was a foreigner to their home, it was as if he had grown up with them in the Southern Watertribe.

The relationship between Katara and Yang personally had grown as well too. They found a best friend in each other, coming to each other in times of need and advice. As time went on, Katara found that she would dread the day Yang finished his lessons, for he would leave the Southern Watertribe on "business" he said.

Katara presently stood at the sink drying dishes while Yang worked beside her washing them. Kenai and Konari were outside playing around, doing nothing in particular. They were just laughing and having a good time in the snow. Katara looked up from her work for a moment to see Konari going around on her air scooter. _She's so much like him… _she thought sadly. A small tear trickled down her cheek. Noticing this, Yang stopped his work.

"Is something wrong, Katara?" he asked. Katara shook her head trying not to get him worried. "Well something must be wrong. You know if you get whatever it is off of your chest it will make you feel better," he said kindly. Katara gave him a small smile.

"It's nothing. I was just thinking of how Konari reminded me of… someone," she said.

"Do you want to talk about it? Apparently it's making you sad," Yang replied.

"Well, she just reminds me of someone I have loved and lost," Katara said quietly.

"Was he your husband?" Yang asked. Katara slowly nodded after a moment. Katara looked down and continued drying the dishes off with her waterbending. After a moment, Yang's hand was placed affectionately on her shoulder. She looked up into his green eyes and gave a small smile.

"I'm sorry, Katara," he said softly. A few stray tears fell before Katara wrapped her arms around Yang. He seemed surprised of her sudden affection but after a second wrapped his arms around her too, returning the hug. After pulling away, Yang smiled. "Why don't I make us some tea?" he said.

After the tea was ready, Katara and Yang sat down at the kitchen table. A silence hung between them as they sipped their tea. After a moment of considering whether or not to brake calm, Katara spoke.

"Yang?"

"Yes,"

"Do you know how… how the Avatar died?" she asked.

Not looking up from his teacup, Yang's eyes widened.

"I do," he replied quietly.

"Would you…would you tell me about it?" Katara hesitantly went on. Finally looking up at her, Yang nodded.

"When we were prisoners, we had been held captive below deck of the ship. When we docked, the prisoners would have to come aboard the deck to help put the cargo below, although the Avatar wasn't allowed to do so. One day, while Azula wasn't looking, one of her rebels decided there was no harm in letting the Avatar up for a while to carry cargo. He thought that it would be funny to watch the Avatar try to carry a large amount of supplies, so Aang was let up on deck. One of Azula's more trustworthy assistants informed her and she quickly made her way to right the problem that her rebel had caused. The only problem was that the rebel had underestimated the Avatar. Many of the crew had been drowned and the ship had been set on fire. The Avatar was standing on the beach, fighting the rebels that had been on the shore. When Azula came on the scene, all action stopped. Azula commanded a duel between them… to the death…" Yang began. Katara gasped and leaned forward waiting for Yang to continue.

"When the battle started, Aang had been winning. Azula was backed against the shore with the sun in her eyes. While Azula fought and her rebels were preoccupied watching, I was able to sneak away from my position on deck to a hidden location. When it appeared that Azula had lost, she jumped from in front of him, launching blue fire as she went, although Aang dodged it. Now he was the one without the advantage of the landscape. As Azula delivered her final blow, a massive rope of lightening, the Avatar's eyes began to glow. He directed the lightning back at her, ten-fold. She fell to the sand for the move had taken all energy from her. The Avatar's blow was one I couldn't understand, but it looked like he had just taken the live right out of her. With one hand he airbended the breath right out of her. While the other appeared to be still, I could tell it had some hold on Azula's will. When he just barely twitched that hand, she fell to the ground… dead."

Katara shook her head slowly in disbelief. She had known of the second move Aang had done, for she had the skill also, although it was one she wasn't proud of. Yang continued on with the story.

"I watched as the rebels fled to the forest nearby. After they all had left, I ran to the Avatar. His eyes and tattoos had stopped glowing and he had collapsed to the beach. He told me to find you, and to tell you that he would keep his promise to you. After that he died. That night I was on my way across the Earth Kingdom headed for the Southern Watertribe," Yang finished. Katara couldn't believe it. How could Aang just die? Seeming to read her thoughts, Yang explained.

"I believe the physical strain of being in the Avatar State after starving for weeks must have killed him. I think anyone would die if they went into the Avatar State after the circumstances he'd been in."

For a moment, Katara just sat there taking in the information. She hadn't slept for days after hearing of Aang's death trying to figure out how he could have possibly died. "Thank you for telling me, Yang," she said quietly. For how long they sat in silence, Katara didn't know. After a while Yang asked, "Master Katara?"

"Yes?"

"If you don't mind… how close was your relationship with… the Avatar?" he asked.

Katara had never really spoken about this with anyone. Sure people who were around five years ago would know about the relationship between the Avatar and the Southern Chief's daughter but no one brought it up ever. She looked up at Yang. His green eyes were filled with sadness and concern for his friend. She could trust this man.

"He had been my husband… and Konari's father…" she replied quietly.

Yang's eyes widened and his eyebrows rose. He sat back in his chair as if all of the energy had left him. When he recovered, he sat up and looked Katara straight in the eye.

"I'm sorry…"

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The next day a blizzard had hit. Yang and Konari satisfied their boredom by playing board games while Katara would sit in the living room in front of the fire and read. On one of the rare occasions when the storm would let up for a couple of minutes, a knock came at the door. Yang and Konari looked up from their game of Pai Sho as Katara got up and walked to answer the door. "I wonder who it is," Konari said.

"Me too, 'Nari," Yang replied placing down his tile. Konari stopped for a second to try and hear the voice of the visitor to determine an identity. When she realized whom it was she frowned and her brows creased together.

"What's wrong?" Yang said frowning at the girl's sudden distress.

"It's Yi," she mumbled.

"Who's that?"

"Mama's boyfriend. He's from the North Pole and went there to visit family several months ago. I hoped he was gone for good…" Konari replied in the same low growling tone. Yang frowned more as Konari, too, continued to frown. Katara and Yi suddenly appeared in the doorway, Yi's hand around Katara's waist.

"Yi, this is my student who I was talking about, Yang. Yang this is my friend Yi," Katara introduced.

"_Boy_friend, Katara. Nice to meet you, Yang," Yi replied shaking Yang's hand. Although he wore a smile on his face, Yang could see the coldness in his eyes. When Yang walked back over to Konari, Yi shot her a dangerous look while Katara wasn't looking. Yang was upset to see the little girl practically shrivel under the other man's gaze.

Giving the poor girl an opportunity to escape, Yang said, "'Nari, why don't we go for a walk and leave your mama and her boyfriend alone for a while?" Konari happily obliged, leaping up to take Yang's outstretched hand. The two left without another word.

"What was that all about?" Katara asked. Yi smiled innocently and shrugged.

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"You wanna talk about it?" Yang asked Konari. They were in the stables just leaning against Appa.

"It's just he's so mean to me! Mama never believes me! Yi makes her think that I'm making it all up but I'm not! I wish he would just go away and leave us alone!" Konari yelled.

"What do you mean, 'he's mean to you'?" Yang asked getting angrier and angrier. Konari shook her head and a small tear fell. Yang's face softened and he pulled the girl into a tight embrace while she cried. "There there. It's ok. Everything's going to be fine, you'll see. Don't worry…"

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Late that night, Yang packed up and got ready to leave. For reasons of his own, he couldn't bear to stay in the South Pole any longer. After a dinner of suppressing gags as Yi made goo goo faces at Katara, it was too much. At the moment, Yi had decided to stay with them in the little house. Having no other room, Katara allowed him to stay in her room; after all, they had been dating for two years. As quietly as he could, Yang crept to Konari's room to say goodbye. When he reached her bed he stared long and hard at her face, trying desperately to memorized it. Her cheeks were tearstained and her eyes looked puffy beneath her lids, a sign that she had been crying. Yang frowned at the sight of the little girl. He couldn't bear to leave her but he promised himself that he would come back after a few months. Slowly, he leaned down and gave her a little kiss on the forehead. He stood back up. With one final look, he turned to leave. He had just reached the door when a tiny voice spoke behind him.

"He hurt me…" Yang turned around to see Konari sitting up in her bed.

"What do you mean?" he asked. Beckoning him over she showed him. Her arms were bruised and scarred badly, some of the bruises looked fresh. Yang's eyes widened in horror.

"Please don't leave me here alone…" she said in a scared little voice. Yang felt so much pity for the girl that it hurt. He realized that Konari probably didn't have many friends and he was all she had. If he left her here she would be alone to face Yi. Yang's anger took over. He quickly and quietly got a few of Konari's things together and put them in a bag. Swinging the bag over his shoulder he walked back over to her. Carefully wrapping her up in her blankets, he lifted her up and carried her from her room while she quietly thanked the spirits that she was being rescued. He put everything and Konari on Appa before walking back to the house. After writing Katara a letter he quietly waterbended himself to her room. He watched her sleep by her bedside, ignoring Yi who snored quietly next to her. Leaning down, he softly pecked her on the lips.

"I'll be back, Katara. I promise…" he whispered softly. He turned to leave. With one final glance, he left.

Back in the stables, Konari sat on Appa's head waiting for Yang to return. Climbing up, he took a spot next to her and led Appa out of the stables. Stirring from his sleep, Momo followed and resumed sleep in Yang's lap.

"Yip yip…" Yang said softly and the bison took to the skies. In the cold air, Konari snuggled closer to Yang and fell asleep smiling.

Yang grinned down at her. "Let's have an adventure…" he whispered to the sleeping girl.

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Done! Looongg chapter! I can't really think of anything to say except I GOT A NEW COMPUTER! I've pretty much been spazzing out all week about this. Although I had an older Mac desktop, this new one is WAY cooler. So fast… we're getting Leopard this weekend, which is so ROCKSOME! Anyway I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Like Emril says, Let's Kick it Up a Notch!!!


	6. Chapter 5

OMG! Thank you for all of the reviews! Due to the amount of reviews yesterday, even thought some might considerate it a small amount, I decided to post the next chapter today! Ok, this might be a little short, 'cause it's just and intro to the next few chapters. If I get at least 5 reviews, I'll post again tomorrow (if I can)! I'm glad everyone is enjoying the story! Please post any ideas you have, I got basic ideas but, hey, there's always room for more!

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**the Wind Master**

**Ch. 5**

**So it Begins…**

Konari awoke to see the brilliant morning sky, wisps of clouds floated above in the rosy sky. Taking seconds to remember the events of last night, she smiled. They had escaped! No more Yi. She was safe. _Maybe Mama will believe me now that we've run away… _Mama… that word stuck out in her head. Her mother would be so upset with her when they got back. _But what if we never go back?_ she thought to herself. So Konari lay there staring up at the sky lost in her thoughts, while back in the South Pole her mother cried.

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They were gone. Katara had awoken that morning with an empty house except for Yi. After frantically searching the town for any sign of her daughter and friend, Katara came back home a broken woman. She felt as if she had lost everything. Going to Yang's no empty room, she threw herself on the bed. Sobbing into the pillow, she felt was seemed like paper beneath it. Pulling it out, she saw it was a letter from Yang describing the bizarre circumstances Katara was in:

_Dear Katara,_

_Thank you so much for everything. I hope you can forgive me for disappearing so suddenly. I have some business to take care of in the Earth Kingdom. Konari is with me, but it's for her own good. She had bruises and scars all on her arms, Katara. Yi had hurt her. I hope you can understand that I never meant to hurt you by taking her away with me. She would have been the one hurt if I left her behind. I would never want her to be abused in that way and I only want what is best for her. Please don't worry though. We will return in a couple of months. When we return though, I have something important to tell you. Don't make any drastic life-changing decisions before I return, you might spoil the surprise I have for you. Take care, Katara. I'll see you in a couple of months._

_Love,_

_Yang_

Katara smiled sadly. _At least she's with him…_ she thought to herself. "Hey, Katara! What's for breakfast?" came Yi's voice. She frowned. They were going to have a talk about some things. Standing up from the bed she left the room.

"Yi, we need to talk," she said in a demanding tone.

"Sure, Kat, right after breakfast. I'm starved! Be a good girl and go fix me something to eat," Yi replied. Katara got mad and tried to control her temper before she cracked the icy home.

"I'm afraid breakfast is going to have to wait, Yi. Did you even notice that Konari and Yang were gone?!" Katara's voice started to rise.

"Good riddance too," he murmured under his breath, but Katara heard it.

"Excuse me?!" she said.

"Well no point in hiding it. That guy, Yang, was just plain weird. Seriously, Katara. Why would you just let some strange guy into your home and teach him waterbending? And Konari, you don't even know who her father is! He's probably just some guy, some old boyfriend I don't even KNOW about! That brat was standing in the way of our relationship anyway," he replied. Katara had had enough. Launching a torrent of water at him, Katara froze Yi to the wall.

"Don't you DARE talk about Konari's father that way! Of COURSE I know who her father is! He was far greater than you, far greater than any man! Don't you DARE speak of him that way!" she yelled at him. Yi scoffed.

"Who was he to be so important, huh? The Avatar or something?" he accused. That stopped Katara right there. She lowered her head as the tears came again.

"As a matter of fact he WAS!" on her last word, Katara sent Yi right through the wall with her waterbending, but she wasn't done with him yet. Going right out after him she confronted the man. "My husband was a greater man than you could ever be! I know he wouldn't be proud to see me with a slug like you! Konari was right all of those times, wasn't she? Yang saw the bruises himself! That's why they are gone! I'm glad he took Konari with him, he saved her from a complete MONSER!" Katara said. Her waterbending attacks became more and more violent until a point where Yi was on the ground, unconscious.

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"Hey, Sleepy Head! You sleep well?" came Yang's cheerful voice. Konari sat up and smiled.

"Yes, Sir!" she replied cheerfully.

"Good! We have a long journey ahead of us. We'll be stopping soon to give Appa a rest and have some breakfast. I hope you're up for an adventure!" Yang replied before disappearing back to Appa's head. Quickly getting dressed, Konari went to sit down with him on Appa's head.

"So where are we going?" she asked him.

"Well, I thought we would stop first at the Southern Air Temple, I want to show you something there. Then we'll go to the Earth Kingdom capital of Ba Sing Se. The Earth King is an old friend of mine. Finally we'll go to the Fire Nation capital where the Fire Lord is also a friend of mine. Afterward we'll head back to the South Pole," Yang elaborated.

"You mean we're going back to the South Pole?" Konari asked. She wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

"Of course. Your mama would miss us too bad," Yang said. Konari lowered her head. Yang suddenly understood.

"Oh, I see. You are afraid of Yi," he said putting her in his lap. Konari nodded. "You shouldn't worry about him. I'm sure your mama put him straight after reading the note I left her. And if he's still there when we get back, than I'll put him straight myself. No one hurts my Konari and gets away with it," Yang assured. Konari smiled.

"But what if he marries Mama? Then he'd have to be my papa and never go away again!" she said starting to get tears in her eyes.

"Don't worry. I told your mom not to do anything like that until we got back," Yang replied. Konari smiled and buried her face into his chest while he wrapped his arms around her. Konari was so thankful to have someone like him.

"I wish you became my papa…" she whispered. Yang smiled softly, saying nothing. So they continued on like that into the morning sun, going on a new adventure.

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Done! Like I said, kinda a shorter chapter but it's just an intro! If I get enough reviews I'll try to post tomorrow! Thanks for reading! I hope you liked it! Now, review!


	7. Chapter 6

Greetings my good hotman! I had no school today, so I decided to post the next chapter of the Wind Master! SO sorry that I couldn't post over the weekend. I was really busy. I don't really have much of anything to say here so without further ado, I give you Chapter 6!

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**the Wind Master**

**Ch. 6 **

**The Statue and the Necklace**

The first stop on Yang and Konari's list was the Southern Airtemple.

"Why are we going to the Southern Airtemple?" Konari asked the third morning after their escape.

"I'm not sure. The previous Avatar once told me that he wanted me to go there, that there were some things there that he wanted me to retrieve. Something about airbending scrolls, and a large door that led to a room full of statues. I'm not sure what we'll find there though," Yang replied.

"Are we almost there?" Konari questioned looking over the map. Yang nodded.

"You see these mountains all around us? This is the Patola Mountain Range. The Southern Airtemple was built on one of these mountains, so keep your eyes open. We're almost there though."

After twenty minutes of searching, Konari spotted it. "There it is!" she exclaimed.

"Great work, 'Nari! Appa, Yip yip!" With a grunt the bison made his way towards the temple.

"Wow…" Konari breathed once they landed. "It's amazing…" she said referring to the splendor of the temple.

"Yeah…" Yang said standing next to her. She saw a certain kind of awe and reverence in his eyes when he said it too. "Well, let's get a move on," Yang said after a moment.

"So these scrolls we're lookin' for… where are they?" Konari asked.

"I'm not sure. The Avatar said that they would be in his old room. Unfortunately, I have no idea where that is," Yang answered.

"Did you know the Avatar?" Yang nodded. "What was he like? My mama always talks about him."

"Where to begin? He was a great man for sure. The best friend a person could ask for, wise beyond measure, and a kid at heart. I had never met a man like him before," Yang said. After that they walked on in silence around the abandoned Airtemple.

"This must have been his room," Yang said after a while. He had stopped in front of a closed door high in the tower they had been searching.

"Why do you say that?" Konari asked.

"The other doors were open, the rooms burned. But this door, they must not have known about it, or they couldn't get in. The monks must have protected it for a reason," Yang explained.

Turning the rusty knob they entered the room. It looked as if it hadn't been touched in over a century. Cobwebs hung from corners and a thick layer of dust had settled on everything like a blanket of time. The moment she walked into the room, a strange feeling came over Konari. A large shelf stood against the wall with various scrolls and other objects and scrolls on it. On the very bottom shelf laid a large and lonely box. Taking this box off of the shelf, Yang examined the intricate carvings of the Air Nomads.

"Hey, look what I found, 'Nari," he said to the little girl who was examining the rest of the room.

"What is it?" she asked looking over his shoulder. Opening the box, they saw it to be full of more scrolls. Gingerly taking one out and unrolling it, Yang discovered that all of the scrolls must have airbending moves and techniques on them like the one he held in his hands.

"This is it! This must be the collection of scrolls the Avatar must have been talking about! Now you can finish learning airbending, 'Nari! We found it!" Yang exclaimed happily. Konari joined in with his cheering and laughing. "Let's get these back to Appa. Then we can go looking for the large door," Yang said putting the scroll back into the carved box.

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The second part of their mission was much easier than finding the airbending scrolls. Momo had actually led them right to the door. But the door was locked.

"How are we supposed to get in?" Konari complained.

"Airbending…" Yang said quietly.

"What?" Konari asked.

"You have to Airbend to get in, Konari. With all of your strength, airbend into those two funnel things. Maybe it will unlock the door," Yang explained.

Still a little unsure, Konari turned back to the door; she trusted him. Taking a deep breath, Konari launched two torrents of air into the two funnels; opening the door. Smiling at her success she ran into the dark room.

"Konari, wait!" she heard Yang call behind her. But some invisible force called to her, like when she was in the Avatar's room. She ran past all of the other statues to the one in the very center. This statue was different from the others; she could feel it. He was a young man for one thing; all of the other Avatar statues were of older men and women. His expression was different also. The other statues stood with solemn and wise looks on their faces, while this man grinned at her. She felt herself grinning along with it. Instead of elegant robes he stood in travel clothes. On his shoulder a lemur sat, Konari guessed it to be Momo. In one hand he held a staff with a necklace tied around it that Konari was sure she had seen somewhere else. In the other hand, he held a small red box, the only bit of color on the sculpture. Taking the box out of his hand, Konari examined it with curiosity while Yang had caught up with her.

"What is that?" he asked. Shrugging, Konari proceeded to open the box. Inside was a wooden necklace. It was beautiful. The symbol of the Air monks was proudly engraved on its front. Rubies encrusted the edges and little red feathers came off of the bottom of it. Feeling some sort of carving on the back she turned it over. It had an inscription. "_To my Konari"_ read the stunned girl. She quickly snapped her head back up to the statue and looked closely at the necklace tied around his staff. Konari gasped: it was the necklace her mother always wore. She had often run her fingers over the same necklace, wondering why her mother never wore the necklace that was from her own mother. Knowing of the betrothal customs of the Watertribes, Konari suddenly understood. The Avatar had given the necklace to her mother. They might have even been married for some time. Looking back at the necklace in her hand, a thought occurred to her.

"Yang?" she said softly.

"Yes?" he replied in the same hushed tone.

"Was… was the Avatar my father?" she asked turning back to him.

With his head lowered he answered, "Yes, Konari. Yes he was…"

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So now Konari knows who her father is. I hope you like the chapter! It gave me that mysterious feeling just writing it. Please review!


	8. Chapter 7

Whoa! I've been gone for like a whole week! That's a long time! Well, I didn't have a writer's block or anything so I will post the next chapter! And make sure you review or I'll unleash FooFoo Cuddly-poops on you!

**Disclaimer: **I haven't been doing these! I kinda forget sometimes that I don't own Avatar….

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**the Wind Master**

**Ch. 7**

**to Ba Sing Se!**

They were now headed for Ba Sing Se. Yang said that he had to visit some old friends there for some reason. Konari sat on Appa's saddle staring intently at the Air Nomad necklace. She still hadn't gotten over the episode at the Southern Watertribe. The wind whipped her hair around her face, but she paid no attention. Her eyes and mind were solely focused on the pendant. Time and time again she ran her fingers over the inscription, trying to picture the man had carved them so long ago. Digging into her memory she tried to remember him, her father the Avatar. But she found it to be no use; she had been to young to remember when he had left her life.

Yang popped up from his place on Appa's head to offer to get some lunch, but stopped when he saw Konari's face. Frowning, he went over to her. She didn't move when he lifted her onto his lap and she never took her eyes off of the necklace.

"You know he loved you very much," Yang said softly after a while. At this Konari looked up at him.

"What do you mean? I've never met him and I'm sure he wouldn't remember me," she said.

"Konari, I'd never known a man to love his daughter as much as your father loved you. He never stopped thinking of you or you mom when he was forced to leave," Yang said.

"Forced to leave?" Konari asked. She had never known the full story of where Yang had come from.  
"Years ago, when you were still a newborn, Fire Nation rebels had come to the Southern Watertribe. They would have destroyed it, killing you and your mom and everyone, if he didn't go with them. So he did. Your father became a prisoner to protect you. He always had wanted to come back to you, but he couldn't," Yang explained.

"Is that where you met my father? When you two were prisoners?" Konari asked. Yang nodded. The little girl turned back to the necklace in her hands. After looking at it for another moment, she lifted it over her head. She would proudly wear the mark of her father for the rest of her days.

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Back in the Southern Watertribe, a lonely young woman sat at her table staring at her own necklace that her lover had given her. Katara ran her fingers over the beautiful white opal surface and the beautiful carvings. Her eyes darted from the Diamond, the Sapphire, the Emerald, and the Ruby that surrounded the surface to the beautiful gold clasps. A few stray tears leaked from her eyes as old memories resurfaces. A knocked jogged her from her muses.

"Katara?" It was her father.

"In the kitchen!" she called to him. Her father appeared in the doorway.

"Why don't we go for a walk? You've been in this house all week. Your brother and I are starting to get worried and your sister is really starting to get a bit… scary," he said. Katara nodded and put her necklace back on. Hakoda sighed.

"Maybe it's time to…"

"I refuse to just move on, Dad. I couldn't just let him go even if I wanted to. I would think that you, of all people, would understand that."

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"There it is! The Great Wall of Ba Sing Se!" Yang exclaimed. They had finally made it to Ba Sing Se after a long journey. Konari was completely speechless at the magnificent sight. Landing Appa on the outskirts of the city, they made their way to the trains that would take them into the city.

"How long are we going to be here?" Konari asked.

"Not long. Two or three days at the most," Yang replied.

Finally they made it into the city. Yang looked around at the people, looking for something. Spotting whatever it was, he grabbed Konari and walked toward it. It was a fruit stall. A solemn looking man was polishing the counter when he looked up. His eyes widened and smile formed. He rushed into the back room while Yang and Konari waited for him to return.

"Who was that?" the little girl asked.

"An old friend," Yang replied. The man returned, this time with a young fierce-looking woman. Her eyes lit up and she smiled. Nimbly leaping over the counter she pulled Yang into a hug.

"Bird Brain! I can't believe it! When Long Shot here said it was a you, I didn't believe it, and yet here you are!" she exclaimed.

Yang chuckled. "It's great to see you too, Smellerbee."

Long Shot and Smellerbee led Yang and Konari back to the apartment they shared. Konari was told to wait in the living room while the adults went into the kitchen to talk. Over some Jasmine tea, the whole story poured out.

"I came here looking for you guys. I wanted to make sure all of the rebels were dead before I can rest," Yang said after telling his story.

"And the girl?" Smellerbee asked. Yang looked through the little window at her just smiling softly. Followed his gaze and gasped realizing who the little girl was.

"Now I see why I couldn't recognize her, you sly fox… She's gorgeous, Bird Brain. You know are rumors about her existence going around, I just never thought they were true," Smellerbee said.

"They're true alright," Yang said dreamily.

"Well what is she doing here? Katara must be freaking out!" Smellerbee said.

"I brought her with me for her own good. There were certain… circumstances that I couldn't allow to continue," Yang answered.

"Well, you're welcome to stay here with us until you get you business taken care of."

"Thanks, guys. I would appreciate it," Yang said.

"And you're just in time, too. The Earth King is throwing his annual ball for the end of the war. The Fire Lord, the Watertribe chiefs, all of our friends will be there! It's a festival and everyone is allowed to come! I'm sure you'll be able to speak to the Earth King and it will save you a trip to the Fire Nation to speak with the Fire Lord," Smellerbee informed.

"That's great! I had totally forgotten about the festival!" Yang exclaimed happily.

"Then it's settled! Seems like you'll be able to get that vacation after all, Bird Brain!"

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"Are we ready to go?" Hakoda asked his daughter-in-law. They were about to leave for Ba Sing Se for the Freedom Festival.

"I think so, Pops. Sokka! You have all of our stuff?" Toph called through the house. Sokka appeared in the doorway underneath a mountain of stuff. A muffled reply came. Rolling her unseeing eyes, Toph went over to help her husband.

"Kenai! Katara! Let's go already!" Toph called again through the house. Katara and Kenai appeared, one after the other, in the walkway.

"Ready to go?" Hakoda asked.

"Yes, Grandfather," Kenai said happily. Katara nodded less enthusiastically. For a moment, Hakoda frowned at this but let it go.

"Well, then, let's get moving!" he said happily.

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It was the day of the Freedom Festival. In all of their party clothes, Yang, Konari, Smellerbee, and Long Shot set off for the festivities. The four were eager to have a great time. There were many games played, dancing, and delicious treats to be enjoyed. When it came evening time, Yang decided it was time to try to sneak in a chat with the Earth King and the Fire Lord. It wasn't that hard. The Earth King, the Fire Lord, and the two Watertribe Chieftains all stood talking together in the center of a large crowd.

"Alright. I'll meet you guys soon by the great fountain after I am done talking with the Kings. Konari, come with me," Yang said to the group. Rushing away from Long Shot and Smellerbee, Yang and Konari made there way over behind the Kings.

"Look! There's Grandfather!" Konari exclaimed. Hearing his granddaughter's voice, Hakoda turned around and saw her.

"Konari? Yang? Is that you?!" he exclaimed. At this the other Kings turned around to see what Hakoda was talking about. Smiling, Konari ran forward into her grandfather's arms and Yang sheepishly walked forward behind her. "What are you two doing here?" Hakoda asked.

"It's a long story, Sir. But I came here on important business to speak with the Earth King. We were going to go to the Fire Nation to speak with you also, Fire Lord Zuko. But I had forgotten the Freedom Festival. I'm glad we arrived here in Ba Sing Se just in time though," Yang replied accepting Konari gently into his arms.

"Excuse me, Hakoda, but would you mind introducing these two people?" Earth King Kuei asked.

"This is my granddaughter, Konari and this is one of Katara's students, Yang," Hakoda answered.

"Yah, about that…" Yang said nervously. "Konari, could you go wait with Long Shot and Smellerbee while I speak with the Kings?" Yang said softly to the little girl. Konari silently obliged and left the adults to speak.

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Katara and Kenai sat at a table watching Sokka and Toph dance. Katara hadn't really been enjoying the festival though. It brought back all of the old memories that pained her so. So many things had happened here at the Freedom Festival: it was the place where Aang had proposed to her, the place where she had learned that Gran Gran died, where she learned that Sokka and Toph were getting married, where she found out that she was going to have Konari, the list was endless. Then she heard it. It was Konari's laugh. By the look on Kenai's face, she was sure he heard it too.

"Come on, Kenai," she said to her nephew. They walked through the crowd hand in hand trying to find the source of the little girl's laughter. It seemed to come from all around, teasing them with its pleasure. Katara was about to give up, claiming it to be her nerve-racked imagination when the crowd cleared and there was Konari standing at the fountain with two other people.

"Konari!!" Katara shouted. The girl's head jerked up and her silvery eyes found their mother's.

"Mama!" she exclaimed. But she didn't look entirely happy. She stood motionless as her mother and cousin ran up and embraced her. "Konari, I was worried sick about you! What are you doing here?!" Katara said pulling away.

"It's good to see you, Katara," said the woman next to Konari. Katara looked at her and smiled.

"Smellerbee! It's great to see you! And Long Shot! Look at you! You look great!" Katara said hugging each of her friends. Katara looked back at her daughter and frowned. Konari didn't seem to happy to see her mother. "What's wrong, Konari?"

"You must be really mad at me," Konari said in a small voice.

"No, no, baby. I'm not mad. Show me your arms," Katara said softly stooping down to her daughter's level. A little reluctantly, Konari pulled up her sleeves. Katara and the others gasped at the bruises on Konari's shoulders. A majority of them were healed but the injuries still brought tears to Katara's eyes. Reaching down to the water skin she always had at her side, she bended some water out to heal the last of the sores. When she finished, she pulled Konari into a tight embrace. "I'm sorry, baby…" she whispered into her daughter's hair. After standing up she looked at the others and wiped her tears away.

"So," she said after recovering. "where's Yang?" she asked. A voice came behind her, making her jump.

"Hi, Katara…"

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Fwew! Done! Long chapter! I guess it makes up for me not posting for a while though! So I hope you liked the chapter! Please review!


	9. Chapter 8

Hey there! What happened to getting like 5 reviews a chapter? Well after this I have to get 5 reviews again before I post the next chapter! So here's what you do. 1st: read the chapter 2nd: scroll down to the bottom 3rd: press the button that says REVIEW!

**Disclaimer: **Do I own Avatar? Let me check… (elevator music, elevator music, elevator music…) … Nope! Don't own Avatar! But I DO own this lovely story! Now read it!

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**the Wind Master**

**Ch. 8**

**Kinjira the Tigress**

The darkly robed figure briskly made his way down the streets of the abandoned city to the place where he would meet with some one. He came to a dark alley and stepped inside. "Are you sure you weren't followed?" he asked in a deep voice. Two yellow cat eyes appeared a few feet in front of him. There was no answer to his question. "I have a job for you. A prisoner has escaped and it is known that he has some very… valuable information. See to it that he is captured and returned to me," the man continued. He held out a rolled up piece of paper, a wanted poster. He was startled when a hand shot out of the darkness. The nails were long and sharp; their color was blood red. In the moonlight, the man was able to see a pale orange complexion and even paler black stripes. The hand grasped the wanted poster and retreated back to the darkness. The yellow eyes traveled down to look at the paper. A second later a disturbing hiss came from the shrouded figure and the moonlight reflected off of razor sharp teeth. "Is something wrong?" the man asked. The figure spoke for the first time.

"This man is dead…" came the person's raspy hiss of a voice that was so derange that it didn't sound human.

"What?" the man asked.

"The man you seek died two months ago on the beaches of the Earth Kingdom by the hands of the exiled Princess," the voice replied.

"That's impossible. Our Princess only killed one man that night…" the man said in disbelief. There was no reply, only a low throaty growl. It took a moment for the realization to hit the man. When it did, his eyes grew wide.

"Would you like me to find the real man, Long Fang?" said the voice quietly.

"By all means, kill him…"

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"It's good to know, my boy," Hakoda said happily clapping Yang on the back.

"Yah, great to know that you'll be romping my palace the halls again when the world knows," Zuko said sarcastically.

"Does Katara know yet?" Kuei asked.

"Not yet. She's a smart woman though, she'll find out soon enough," Yang replied.

"Well I guess now's a good time her to find out," Chief Arnook said gesturing over to where the Princess of the Southern Watertribe was embracing her child.

"Crap…" Yang said under his breath. Taking a shaky breath, he walked toward her.

"Where is Yang?" he heard Katara ask.

"Hi, Katara…" he said softly from behind her. She jumped and turned around smiling.

"Yang!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms around him. Looking over Katara's shoulder, Yang saw the Kings giving him the thumbs up.

"Not yet…" he mouthed to them. Katara pulled away and held Yang at arm's length.

"I was so WORRIED about you! I had no idea what had happened! Oh…!" she pulled him into another hug.

"It's great seeing you too, Katara," Yang replied. Suddenly out of nowhere, some shifting rocks that were beneath him propelled up Yang into the sky.

"YANG!!!" came the very furious voice of Toph. Yang landed with a thud.

"H-hi, Toph. Fancy meeting you here…" Yang said nervously, genuinely terrified of the blind Earth bender. She stalked up to him and punched him rather hard on the shoulder.

"DON'T YOU EVER PULL A STUNT LIKE THAT AGAIN! WE WERE WORRIED OUT OF OUR MINDS ABOUT YOU!" she yelled.

"Y-y-yes, Toph. Never again, Toph," Yang stammered. Toph was about to berate him again when Katara stepped in.

"Hey, Yang. Why don't we go for a walk?" she asked sweetly. Yang nodded vigorously and took her hand. He looked back at Toph and swore Katara felt his hand go cold under the Earth bender's sightless glare. He was about to suggest Konari to come along with them, but she seemed perfectly fine with her cousin and grandfather.

So on the couple walked through the festival, making small talk and such. "So you're coming home after the festival, right?" Katara asked after a while.

"Home?" Yang asked confused.

"With us of course. I couldn't bear to let you out of my sight again, Yang. You're… you're my best friend. You couldn't get rid of me now if you tried," Katara said.

Yang blushed at her statement and looked away smiling. After walking in an awkward silence, Yang spoke up. "Why don't we go find Konari now and have some dinner? We hadn't eaten yet and I'm sure she's hungry."

"Good idea," Katara replied as they set off to find her daughter.

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"Wow! This is really good!" Konari exclaimed in awe of the food Yang had gotten them.

"Yeah, Yang! This is great! What is this stuff anyway and is it possible to get a recipe?" Katara asked.

"It's a vegetable stir-fry from Air Nomad origins. I'm sure you could get the recipe though. They have on little cards over there at the stall I got it from," Yang replied before he took another bite. After they were finished the adults sat talking while Konari sat quietly fiddling with her necklace. After a while Katara noticed this and asked her about it.

"Konari, you've been awfully quiet. Is something…." But she stopped abruptly when she saw the necklace. "Where did you get that?" she breathed silently.

"I'll go get some dessert. It seems like you guys have some talking to do," Yang said quietly standing up.

"Konari, I asked you where did you get that necklace?" Katara asked again a little louder.

"The Southern Airtemple…" Konari answered quietly, never taking her eyes off of the necklace. Katara looked down and said nothing, fiddling with her own necklace.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Konari asked after what seemed like forever. Katara looked up.

"What?" she asked.

"Why didn't you tell me who my father was?!" Konari yelled jumping up, attracting the attention of pedestrians. Katara looked at her daughter's fierce look and sighed.

"I wanted to tell you, I really did. But… I don't know. I didn't want you to react negatively I guess. I was worried how you would take it so I decided that I would tell you when you were older and able to understand," Katara replied never taking her eyes off of her daughter.

"Is that why I never really had friends at the South Pole?" Konari asked quietly sitting back down. Katara looked away and nodded.

"I suppose that the older people in the South Pole would know who your father was, although no one else in the world does. To the Earth Kingdom, Fire Nation, and Northern Watertribe, you don't really exist. You were too young when he left for any one to really determine who your father was unless they knew us," her mother answered. "I suppose the villagers would keep their children away from you, Konari, out of respect I suppose."

Konari looked back down at her necklace. "So all of this time… When you told me stories of your adventures with the Avatar, Uncle Sokka, and Auntie Toph, my favorite character was my father…" Konari said quietly. Katara nodded. Konari looked up with tears in her eyes. "I wish you told me sooner…"

Katara opened her mouth to reply but Yang had returned. "Ok, I found us a great dessert! Fire Nation Lave Cake!" he said happily sitting down. Konari wiped her tears away and smiled. Katara stared at the mound of what looked like a very plain cake.

"No offense, Yang, but this isn't much of a cake," she said. He just smiled like he knew something they didn't and turned to Konari.

"Remove the top," he instructed. Konari did as she was told and neatly sliced off the top of the cake. That's when they saw the real magnificence of the dessert. Rich chocolate "Lava" erupted from the cake, pouring down the sides. Beautiful miniature fire works exploded out into lovely phoenixes and flowers of fire. Konari shrieked with laughter and dug into the lava cake. Soon her entire face was covered in chocolate.

"Mum! There's nuts in thu cack!" she said with a mouthful of chocolate. Katara laughed at her daughter's appearance and soon she and Yang were removing the tops of their "volcanoes" too.

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The dark figure moved swiftly to Ba Sing Se. Long Fang's instructions had been perfectly clear and she intended to commit her crime quickly. As if the figure could fly, she made it to the top of the wall and soon descended down to the festival.

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Katara, Yang, and Konari who sat on Yang's shoulders happily walked through the town laughing and having a good time. Little did they know of the chaos that was to ensue. Cries began to fill the air. The happy trio stopped and looked around at the panicking people.

"What's going…!" Katara was stopped mid sentence when a glass shattering roar filled the air.

"Oh no…" Yang breathed. Quickly taking Konari down into his arms, he grabbed Katara's hand and began to run.

"What's going on?!" she yelled through the loud frenzy. Yang didn't answer. His head darted about looking for something. He caught site of the dark figure jumping off of the high wall and quickened his pace.

He ran back to the apartment stables and put Konari on Appa before running back into the building. Katara climbed up and held Konari close waiting for Yang to return.

"What's going on, Mama?" came Konari's frightened little voice.

"Shh, shh. I don't know, baby," she replied. A second later Yang came running out with their bags. Hopping onto Appa he commanded, "Yip yip!" Off to the skies they took, flying high over Ba Sing Se. When he felt they were at a safe enough altitude, Yang climbed onto the saddle to talk with Konari and Katara.

"What's going on, Yang? What happened back there?" Katara asked.

"Her name is Kinjira the Tigress," he replied. Katara looked at him plainly confused.

"Who's that?" she asked.

"It's a long story. A thousand years ago the Spirit world and the Mortal world were much closer than they are today. Kinjira used to be a spirit. She had fallen in love with the Avatar of the time, but he refused her. Angry and jealous, she slew the Avatar and his love, delivering the Avatar's head to the High Spirit. The High Spirit became angry with Kinjira and cast her out of the Spirit world. This is what caused the worlds to split, allowing only the Avatar to travel between them. But Kinjira is immortal, cursed to wander the Earth forever as a hired assassin. She was sent there to do that job. But I always though she was just a legend…" Yang explained.

"Who was she sent to kill?" Katara asked.

"Either me or Konari most likely," Yang answered.

"Why you two?' Katara asked.

"Some of the rebels escaped and probably want me dead because of certain information I carry. They might want Konari dead because of who she is and her legacy. Although Kinjira knows everything, she only does what she is told, nothing more, and nothing less. You are lucky the rebels don't know the part you play in this, or else you would be a target too," Yang said.

"Why is she called 'the Tigress'?" Konari asked.

"If you were to see her, she would look like a tiger although she doesn't have a tail."

They sat in silence for a while. No words could describe the feeling of fear that was going around at the moment.

"What will we do?" Katara asked after a long while.

Yang sighed. "We need to go to the Northern Airtemple. I've heard of the great inventors there and their defensive devices. There we should be safe for a while."

"And when this is over?"

"We go home…"

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Wow! LOOOONG chapter! Okay I was going INSANE because I couldn't get this chapter out soon enough so please review! I went CRAZY because of this story! No lie!


	10. Chapter 9

Hiya! I'm so glad everyone is reviewing! Well, I won't say much up here! Enjoy the story and PLEASE do review! I want 5 before I do the next chapter! I don't think that's too much to ask.

**Disclaimer: Are these really necessary? I don't own Avatar and I'm sure no one else here on FF does.**

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**the Wind Master**

**Ch. 9**

**the Northern Air Temple**

"She's asleep," Yang said softly coming down to Appa's head to sit next to Katara.

"Thank you so, so much, Yang," Katara said.

"No problem," Yang said casually. After all he had put Konari to bed dozens of times.

"No, not just putting my daughter to sleep for me. For… well… for everything…" Yang gave Katara a confused look. Noticing this, Katara continued. "I mean… for taking Konari away when she was being hurt by Yi. I can't believe that I didn't trust my own daughter…. but you did what was best for her and escaped." Yang sat staring ahead intently. After a while Katara spoke again. "You love her… don't you?" she asked.

"I wouldn't want her to get hurt. I want what is best for her," Yang said simply.

"But you love her?" Katara asked again. Yang nodded in silence. They sat in an awkward quiet for some time after that, alone in their own thoughts.

"I once had a daughter," Yang said, breaking the silence. It was Katara's turn to be confused. Yang didn't look much older than 18. Yang laughed quietly. "You don't know how old I am. I must say, I do look a bit young for my age. But perhaps that just has to do with imprisonment."

"Well… how old are you?" Katara asked.

"I will be 23 in a couple of months." After that they sat in another silence for a few moments.

"What happened? … I mean to your daughter," Katara asked.

"I don't know. The rebels captured me three years ago, when my daughter was a toddler. I don't know what happened to my daughter or my wife though. But, I guess Konari just reminds me of my own daughter… Perhaps that's why I grew to love her so much…" Katara nodded. "She's a great kid…" Yang said quietly.

"I know…" Katara whispered blushing.

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The moment the three left Ba Sing Se, the Tigress looked up with her large yellow eyes and roared. They had escaped. Dropping the victim she had held in her large hands she ran back to the wall. With the same agility as before, she made her way over the wall and followed the bison in the form of a large tiger. Each leap seemed to take her soaring through the air. When she landed from her bounds, the earth trembled. She wouldn't fail the mission.

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"Katara, wake up," Yang whispered, shaking the sleeping waterbender slowly.

"What is it?" Katara said sleepily.

"I think we should land. A storm is coming up from the North. We won't be able to fly in conditions like what is coming. Besides, I think we put enough distance between us and the Tigress to keep her at bay long enough," Yang said. Katara nodded and took the reins while Yang went up on Appa's saddle to wake Konari.

Soon the storm was upon them. The heavy drops that began to fall were a promise that a great storm was to follow. Sure enough, they had just gotten sight of a cave when the torrent came.

Bending themselves dry, the adults kept themselves busy starting up a fire and making the shelter usable while Konari sat wide eyed staring out of the cave entrance. Soon they were sitting around the warm fire eating breakfast. But Konari remained staring out of the cave at the rain.

"Things are getting really nasty out there. We probably won't be able to travel at all today," Yang commented. He looked at the form of Konari and frowned. "Is something wrong?" he asked walking over to her.

"It's the lightening," she said quietly. Yang nodded and scooped her up in his arms. Going to lay back on Appa's tail, Konari snuggled closer into his chest whimpering.

"Shh, shh. It's alright…" he cooed. Seeing that she wasn't calming down he began to hum a soft tune. Katara watched and listened in interest. The tune he was humming seemed so familiar, but she couldn't put a finger on where she heard it before. Soon, the little girl fell asleep. But before she did, she said something that moved Katara's heart.

"That's my papa's old lullaby…" she whispered before nodding off. Indeed, that was where Katara had heard the lullaby before. Aang had used it long ago when Konari was first born to put her to sleep. But how Konari knew that was a complete mystery for she should have been too young to remember. And how Yang knew it was another mystery. After he had laid her gently back down, Katara asked him about it.

"The song was just an old folk tale from my home. Just something I thought she would like. I had no idea that the Avatar knew the story too though. Perhaps the legend came from the Air Nomads. I never did know where exactly it came from," he answered. Katara nodded. Now if only she knew how her daughter knew of the song…

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They storm finally passed over late at night. Seeing that the Tigress wouldn't be far on their trail, Yang and Katara decided that it was best if they continued on. On the third morning after the events in Ba Sing Se, they finally saw the Northern Air Temple.

"There it is!" Konari exclaimed happily. She laughed at the sight of the little people flying around on their own gliders and happily waved to them when they came nearer.

"It's been a long time since I was last at the Northern Air Temple," Katara said in awe. They had really set about to restore the place rather than modernize it after Aang had left the temple the first time ten years ago. "We could find my old friends Teo and his father now!"

"Now we can find help…" Yang said under his breath.

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Well I'm done with this chapter! I found it quite boring though, actually. Just a chapter about Konari and Yang's father/daughter like bond. Well…

If you want the next chap click "Review"! If you want the next chap click "Review"! If you like this bit of prose, go ahead, use your nose! If you want the next chap click "Review"!


	11. Chapter 10 Part 1

Lol…. I don't have school today…

**Disclaimer: Nope, I still don't own Avatar!**

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**the Wind Master**

**Ch. 10 Part 1**

**the Order of the Lotus Tile**

"Welcome to the Northern Airtemple!" a young man in a wheelchair said proudly.

"It's great to see you again, Teo!" Katara exclaimed throwing her arms around him.   
Teo laughed. "Good to see you too, Katara!" he said returning the embrace. "And who are your friends?" Teo asked when they pulled away.

"Teo, is my friend Yang. I was teaching him waterbending," Katara said as Yang bowed respectfully. "And this is my daughter, Konari," Katara continued. Konari also bowed. Teo gasped.

"Is it really true? We have heard rumors of you having a child, but we never thought they were true!" Teo exclaimed wheeling himself closer to the child to get a good look at her. After inspecting Konari head to toe Teo turned and smiled at Katara. "She's beautiful…" he said. Both Katara and Konari blushed, but the later quickly shook it off.

"I hear that you guys here at the Temple celebrate the Freedom Festival a week later. It wouldn't still be on, would it?" Katara asked. Teo's face brightened.

"Why, yes, it is still on! Today just happens to be the day of the Tournament in the Sky!" he said happily.

"Tournament in the Sky?" Konari asked, thoroughly interested. Teo nodded.

"Those people in the gliders. Would you like me to show you?" Teo said happily eager to teach the little girl to fly.

"Yeah! Let's go!" Konari said happily before she mounted an air scooter and zoomed off. A stunned Teo turned and looked at the two adults.

"We'll talk more later," Katara said.

"Konari, make sure you listen to Teo! Be careful!" Yang called after the girl. She raised her hand in recognition.

"You better catch up with her," Katara said chuckling. Nodding, Teo zoomed off after her on his wheelchair while Katara and Yang stayed behind laughing.

"Shall we walk around?" Katara asked after they finished laughing. Offering his arm, Yang said, "Let's,"

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Yang and Katara sat underneath a cherry tree laughing about something Katara said about Sokka.

"I can't believe he got SEVEN fishing hooks stuck in his thumb! That's Sokka for you!" Yang said laughing.

"That's nothing! There was this one time when we were still traveling with Aang that Sokka got stuck in a hole in the ground! Now THAT'S Sokka for you!" Katara said also laughing. The two sighed and tried to catch their breath. After a moment of silence, Katara spoke up.

"So, after this whole Tigress thing, what are you going to do? Are you going to try to find your family?" Katara asked with a little disappointment in her voice. Yang looked at her and frowned, catching her distress.

"I don't know. There is a big chance that they aren't even alive any more. Killed by the rebels and such. But anyway, I was hoping to return with you to the South Pole. I couldn't just leave Konari like that. I couldn't just leave you like that…" he replied. They were practically centimeters away from each other now.

"Do you believe in falling in love twice with the same person?" Katara asked quietly. Yang nodded slowly.

"Why?" he asked.

"I… don't know…." Katara said right before their lips brushed. The kiss lasted only seconds but it seemed like forever to Katara. It was soft and sweet and some how familiar to Katara. Yang suddenly pulled away blushing.

"Katara… I'm sorry I… I mean we…" Yang stammered before Katara interrupted him.

"Don't be sorry," she said pecking him on the cheek. Standing up, Katara offered him her hand.

"We better go find Konari and Teo to find out our sleeping arrangements for the night," she said. Taking her hand and standing up himself, Yang nodded. They walked back hand in hand, blushing at their previous actions.

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They had come back to the place where they started, and the couple started looking for Konari. Katara was the first to spot her. Konari flew and dived through her element alongside Teo and other children, perfectly at ease in her own element. She laughed and twirled in the sky, oblivious to the fact that if she fell, it was a long way back to Earth. Spotting her mother below, Konari laughed and waved.

"Look, Mama! I'm flying!" she exclaimed ecstatically.

"Wooh! Go Konari!" Katara yelled happily waving at her daughter. After one more twist, Konari landed smoothly in front of Katara and Yang.

"Did you see me, Mama? Did you see?" she asked excitedly jumping up and down.

"Yes I did, Konari! You're a natural!" Katara said scooping her daughter up into her arms.

"Guess what! Teo said I could keep my glider! That it was 'specially made for me!" Konari said happily. Taking the glider into his hands, Yang examined it. Towards the top of the staff, a small rose was carved. Underneath was the same inscription that was on the back of Konari's pendant. Smiling secretly to himself, Yang handed the glider back.

"Teo, you wouldn't mind showing us where we are staying, would you?" Katara asked, handing Konari off to Yang.

"Sure. Right this way," Teo said turning around.

They were led to a nice little inn to stay for the night. The innkeeper said they could stay at no charge. She said, "It simply is an honor for Lady Katara to be staying here for the night. How could I ever repay you, for after all you did help save the world? No charge."

After trying to convince the woman to accept some form of pay and failing, the three went up to the room they would be sharing. They would share the room for safety matters. Katara had started getting some things out for the night when the back squirmed and wriggled. She would have shrieked when the flash of white fur shot out at her if it weren't for the little creature's incessant licking. She chuckled.

"Momo! What are you doing in there?"

Yang had just stood up from tucking Konari in for the night and he walked over to Katara.

"Hey, I'm going to go talk to Teo and see if he can help us. Good night," he said softly before giving Katara a peck on the cheek. She became red as he left the room, her hand raised to her cheek. Behind her, Konari chuckled. Katara turned and gave Konari a suspicious look.

"What?" she asked.

"He likes you…" she taunted in a sing-song voice. Katara shrugged. "And you like him…" Konari continued. At this, Katara blushed harder and smiled looking away, recalling the previous events of that evening. Konari squealed with delight and launched herself at her mother.

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"I'm glad you are ok, old friend. I would be happy to help you with the Tigress."

"Thank you, Teo. I'm glad to know that. Would you please inform me of how the help will come though."

Teo and Yang sat talking in Teo's private suite, discussing the Tigress problem.

"In the Fire Nation capital, there is a secret order: the Order of the Lotus Tile. I'm sure you have heard of them. The Fire Lord's uncle is the current head of the Order. He will be able to help you. I've heard that Sir Iroh has great insight into the ways of spirits. But why, might I ask, would you not resolve this? Bridge between the two worlds and all," Teo asked.

"Unfortunately, the problem is greater than one man alone to fix. I'll need more help. And it's not just to solve this problem with the Tigress. This is to keep my family safe…"

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The next morning, Yang and Katara spoke of what Teo had told Yang.

"So we do need to go to the Fire Nation after all," Katara said. Yang nodded.

"This Order would be able to help us. I hear that you have had personal experience with Iroh. He is in charge of this order and will help us," Yang replied.

"We have to leave?" came Konari's voice from the doorway. Her new staff was at hand and her hair was blown in every direction from flying.

"Afraid so, sweetie. We can't risk having the Tigress come here and terrorize these people. This evening we have to go to the Fire Nation. There we will be able find some help," Yang replied to the little girl's question. Konari lowered her head. Katara sighed and got up; leading her daughter back to the couch they were sitting on.

"Hey, we can always come back and visit. It's not like we'll never see this place again," she said to her daughter.

"But Astana and I were going to have a sleep over," Konari said sadly.

"Who's Astana?" Katara asked her daughter.

"She's one of my new friends. She asked me if I could sleep over her house tonight. That's what I came to asked you. Astana asked Yani, Kala, Tori, and me if we could sleep over. Yani, Kala, and Tori all can go and I came to asked if I could go too," Konari said starting to sniffle. Trying to stop the waterworks, Yang cut in.

"Tell you what, after we stop in the Fire Nation, we'll come back here just so you can have a big sleep over. You can stay the whole week if you like," he said.

"Promise?" Konari asked wiping the tears away.

"Promise," Yang said sincerely. Konari smiled and nodded.

"So, why don't you pack your clothes so that we can get to the Fire Nation and back?" Katara said standing up.

"Yes, Mama," Konari said happily skipping up to the room.

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Evening came and the trio was eating dinner when the nightmare that occurred in Ba Sing Se repeated. First came the ear-splitting roar, followed by the sound of people screaming and crying. This time, Yang and Katara were prepared. Appa was saddled and ready to go just outside. Momo was on his saddle, so that he wasn't accidentally packed away again. Everyone jumped on but Yang didn't command Appa to go just yet.

"Yang, what's going on down there?" Katara called from the saddle. But Yang didn't hear her for he was soon on the ground and running towards where the Tigress's roars were coming from. Katara jumped down onto Appa's head.

"Yip yip!" she commanded. The bison hovered just over the houses while they followed Yang. _Wow… he can move pretty fast!_ Katara thought as they quickly followed. And there she was: the Tigress. She stood in the middle on the chaos. She was cloaked in black leather and in her clawed hands she held a bow and arrow, ready to fire. And there was Yang, using the octopus form, blocking the Tigress's now coming arrows. Katara got into stance on Appa's head and tried her most powerful form of water bending; after all it was a full moon that night. But it didn't work. The Tigress looked up at Katara and roared aiming her bow. Yang used her distraction to his advantage and sent a torrent of water at her. The Tigress fell, not knowing what had hit her. Next, Yang had incased the Tigress in a block of ice, before throwing her off of the mountain. Quickly he made his way over to where Appa hovered, waterbending himself onto Appa's head and grasping Katara close.

"Yip Yip!" he commanded furiously, and the bison took off.

When they were high above the clouds, Katara turned to Yang.

"Are you ok? Any injuries, bruises? Here let me see…" she bombarded Yang with questions. She reached to lift his shirt but he quickly stopped her.

"Don't worry, I'm fine. I didn't even break a sweat. But are you ok?" he asked.

"Yes yes, I'm fine. But what happened? Is the Tigress dead?" Katara asked.

"I'm afraid not. As with every spirit, there is only one way to kill an immortal being. Throwing her off of the mountain cannot do anything. The Tigress can't feel anything. Thus she enjoys causing others pain and emotion. The Tigress has no blood coursing through her veins and she craves it and the emotions it gives her, even for brief periods of time. All we can do now is get to the Fire Nation and hope the Order of the Lotus Tile will be able to help us," Yang replied seriously. A few stray tears fell to Katara's cheeks as she wrapped her arms around Yang. Like that, they continued on into the night, hoping that they would find help from the Order of the Lotus Tile.

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Long… Ok, this idea for the chapter came about a week ago. So, if you see anything like the Order of the Lotus Tile, I swear I didn't copy. This was in my head all week. Let's just say great minds think alike, m'kay? I was going to put this whole Order thing together along with them in the Fire Nation into one chapter but that would make it like 4000 words, which is way to long so I split it into two parts. So I want 5 reviews before I do the next part! Hope you enjoyed the Chapter!


	12. Chapter 10 Part 2

Hey! Thank you all for reviewing! As I said, the last chapter was getting too long, so I had to break it up. Ummm…. yeah…. So enjoy the chapter and review! The limit is 5 reviews again!

**Disclaimer: Don't own Avatar. :( **

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**the Wind Master**

**Ch. 10 Part 2**

**the Order of the Lotus Tile**

Onward they flew, away from the Airtemple, away from the Tigress. It took a week to reach the Fire Nation capital. The ride was unusually silent. For that entire time they flew they didn't once land except for at night when Appa needed to rest. No one spoke, no one bended, no one smiled. The minds of the three travelers were all occupied on other things and in silence the continued.

Finally, the capital city was in sight.

"There it is!" Konari exclaimed happily, breaking the silence for the first time in what seemed like ages. Soon they were landed outside the city, planning on how they would come in contact with this mysterious Order.

"So what's the plan, Yang?" Katara asked.

"Teo gave me this scroll. It says where to find the Order," Yang said holding up a rolled up scroll. Tucking the scroll back into his pocket, Yang stood up and retrieved something from Appa's saddle.

"Put these on. It will hide your identity," Yang said, handing Katara and Konari two dark shapes made of cloth which turned out to be long, body length cloaks.

"Let's go!" Katara said jumping up once she got the cloak on.

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"Where exactly are we going?" Katara whispered to Yang. They were in the city now. So far no one found it suspicious that these three figures were walking around in cloaks. Actually, there were other cloaked bodies roaming the streets.

"Be on the look out for a tea shop. The Jasmine Dragon, Teo said," Yang whispered back.

"I see it!" Konari whispered loudly pointing over to a busy little joint. "Come on!" she urged.

They entered the teashop inconspicuously. Everyone seemed too busy anyway to notice their entrance.

"Now what?" Katara asked. Yang looked around and smiled.

"This way," he said. Walking over to a wall far away in the corner of the shop, he stopped. The wall was plain, like the rest of the walls in the teashop. The only difference was a single white lotus carved into the surface.

"No offense, Yang, but this is just a wall," Katara said.

"Or is it?" Yang said with a mischievous grin. Raising his hand he pressed the very center of the lotus. A grumbling noise could be heard from the other side of the wall. Katara looked around to see if anyone else had noticed the noise, but all of the people inside the shop seemed oblivious to the sound. Suddenly, the wall moved! All that was revealed was a small closet space and a simple wooden door. The door also bore the lotus carving.

"Quickly! Step inside!" Yang ushered. Just as Konari and Katara made it inside the wall closed up, leaving only a minuscule amount of space.

"Any time now, Yang!" Katara said. Yang knocked at the door. A slot appeared and two eyes looked out.

"Who knocks at the guarded gate?" the man asked.

"One who has eaten the fruit and tasted its mysteries," Yang replied automatically. The slot disappeared and the door opened to a long, torch-lit stairway. The man then turned and gestured for them to follow. Konari whimpered softly and hugged herself to her mother's leg. Down they went. The air was damp and smelled of mold. Every few yards was a torch although it would only cast a dim light. After what seemed like forever, they made it to the bottom of the stairs. A long hallway stood before them. On each side of the hallway were doors leading to who-knows where. From behind a few of them, Konari swore she heard the calls of bizarre and wild creatures. She was careful not to stray too far from her mother and investigate the sounds. At the end of the hallway a large door loomed before them. The trio could faintly hear bustling noises and talking on the other side. An enormous white lotus made of opal, jade, silver, and other precious minerals adorned the door. Katara and Konari gasped. The man stepped aside, allowing the trio to enter.

"Ladies, I welcome you to the Order of the Lotus Tile," Yang said grandly, opening the door wide for them.

The girls' eyes practically popped out of their heads. The room was much more like a city than a single room. An ornate fountain stood in the center of many bustling people. Stalls were set up in various locations selling the oddest of items like baby badger moles and three headed toads. Above them, strange trees grew upside down and even farther up where small windows letting in small amounts of sunlight. In the canopy there were bridges and pulley systems which people hurried along to their destinations, oblivious to the danger of being up so high. Konari was amused by the notion of a roadway in the sky.

"It's a whole world down here…." Katara breathed. Yang chuckled and continued on. People from all over the world appeared to congregate in the area. Trading and talking, it certainly was a sight. Houses were mounted on walls with ladders leading up to their doorways. Pipes were strewn here and there providing heat and water to the people. Vendors lined the streets selling goods and performing services. A man played a flute-like instrument while a little monkey danced. Bands played on verandas at different points in the city. Everything and everyone was so colorful, so alive even in the depths of the capital city. "This is amazing! I've never seen anything like it! It's like a whole secret world!" Katara exclaimed.

"It's nice, isn't it?" Yang said proudly.

"You've been here before?" Konari asked.

"Yes…. in a… different life," Yang replied with a distant look in his eyes. But Katara was so mesmerized by the place to even notice. After coming back to her senses Katara spoke up.

"So where exactly are we going?" she asked.

"Right over there," Yang said pointing. What Katara saw made her gasp once more. A large, ornate palace stood on looking the city. Gold statues and rubies encrusted the surface. Elegant carvings and statues only enhanced the look. "This is the home of Lord Iroh. He is the commanding officer right now of the Order of the Lotus Tile. He's expecting us." Katara only nodded as Yang pulled them along.

At the large open doors, the guards stood aside for them. Once inside, Yang pulled away his hood and the others followed suit. A jolly looking man stood talking with some elegant looking people before he turned and saw them.

"Lady Katara! What and excellent surprise!" he exclaimed walking over to them.

"Iroh! It's great to see you too!" Katara said embracing the man. Iroh turned and looked at Yang.

"Ah, good to see you my boy. We have some explaining to do don't we? Why don't we adjourn to the dining hall to discuss over some roasted duck and tea?" Iroh said with a twinkle in his eye. Yang smiled and followed with Katara and Konari close at his heels.

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"So, Lady Katara, what do you think of the city?" Iroh asked pushing away from his plate.

"Oh, Uncle Iroh, it's amazing! I had no idea! It's truly a wonder. I only wish I had been able to see it sooner!" Katara said. Iroh smiled and nodded.

"And you, my boy. What do you think? Not at all what you expected, huh?" Iroh said.

"It looks great, Uncle Iroh. Words can't describe…." Yang replied proudly.

"What about you, young lady? I don't think we have been properly introduced," Iroh said to Konari.

"Iroh, this is my daughter Konari. Konari, this is Iroh, Fire Lord Zuko's Uncle," Katara introduced.

"Nice to meet you, Iroh sir," Konari said flashing a grin that belonged to another. Iroh's smile widened at this.

"Charming! Simply charming!" he exclaimed happily. Konari smiled and was about to say something but was interrupted by an enormous yawn.

"Of course! Where are my manners? You three must be exhausted. My servants will show you to your quarters. We will talk more tomorrow. For now you must rest. A man needs his rest," Iroh said gesturing to some servants. "Your bison and lemur will be taken care of in the stables and your things are already in your rooms. I hope you find everything comfortable," Iroh said.

Standing, Yang lifted a half-asleep Konari in his arms and took hold of Katara's hand before bowing his head respectfully and following the servants.

"Good night, Uncle Iroh. Dinner was delicious," Katara said kindly.

"A good night to you too, my dear. Sleep well. You are safe here," Iroh replied before they turned to walk off to their separate quarters.

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"So…tired…" Yang said collapsing on Katara's bed. He had just come from putting Konari down and he came to Katara's room to wish her good night.

"Well then go to bed, you dummy!" Katara said playfully.

"I came to say goodnight first," Yang said resting his head in his hands. For a few moments he just watched Katara brushing her hair at the vanity.

"It's wonderful here," Katara said looking around the room. "I've never seen anything like it. If only we could stay..." she trailed off.

"We could you know. Just say the word. The whole city is protected with blessing that the Fire Sages cast. The Tigress can't reach us here. Or at least, she won't be able to stay for long if she tries to enter," Yang said. Katara sighed and continued to brush her hair. Sighing himself, Yang stood up and walked over to her. "Goodnight," he said softly, pecking her on the cheek.

Katara blushed for a moment before mumbling goodnight herself.

Before he left the room, Yang turned at the door and smiled saying, "Sleep well. You're safe now." And with that, he left Katara to her thoughts.

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AAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! I'M SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SORRY! I like LOST the chapter! It was all in my head! Then I started to read the Twilight series (which by the way has to be the BEST series of books ever written for teenage girls) and I got so sidetracked! This chapter was all in my head than POOF! It was gone! Now I feel really bad. First for leaving you guys hanging and then for practically losing my Kataang religion. Don't worry I'll get it back, the next book in the Twilight series doesn't come out until next year. I will recover my Kataang-and-Avatard-ness soon. I just didn't want to leave you guys hanging so I came up with this sad excuse for a chapter! I most likely will come back and edit it though so don't worry. I deserve FLAMES! Waaah! sniffle Please review and forgive me!

EDIT: I came back and edited it a bit. More details and such. I think there shall be another 3rd part to this that I will do. A conversation between Yang and Iroh. I believe I shall do that now. Please at least one review acknowledging that I edited!


	13. Chapter 10 Part 3

Hola! I'm sorry I haven't added a new chapter for a while! Midterms… nasty things…. Anyway this chapter is kinda like a filler chapter where things start to come together. I'm a little scared of the reviews I might get for this chapter. (ex: "where have you been?!" and "I KNEW IT I KNEW IT I KNEW IT!!") Well enjoy! Five-review limit is on!

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**the Wind Master**

**Ch. 10 Part 3**

**the Order of the Lotus Tile**

After Yang left Katara to go to bed, he made his way down to Iroh's personal chambers. They had some things to discuss. He met guards every now and then along the way. They would bow and mumble things like "my Lord" and it was truly starting to get on his nerves. Perhaps he should have made sure Iroh kept his true identity a secret. Iroh's door was no different than the rest although it did have it's own golden lotus tile on it. Yang tapped at the door.

"Iroh? It's me," he said softly. Iroh opened the door quickly and pulled Yang inside. A little startled by the man's actions, Yang raised a brow.

"Is there something wrong?" he asked Iroh.

"You never know who is friend or foe down here. Just a caution. There have been rumors that someone is trying to assassinate me," Iroh explained hurrying around the room doing various things like making tea and getting some pillows to sit on. While Iroh busied himself, Yang looked around the room. Thick velvet drapes covered the ceiling and the walls. Gold statues and medals stood proudly on pedestals and shelves. A picture of Iroh's deceased son had a small shrine in a corner of the room and other pictures hung on the walls. Finally, Iroh was ready.

"Shall we begin?" he said offering Yang a cup of tea, which he gladly accepted.

"I'm worried about them," Yang stated right off the bat. "I'm afraid of what the Tigress can do. We had visited the Mechanists at the Northern Airtemple. They said that you had some kind of special defense here," he continued. Iroh sat quietly for a moment in deep thought. After coming to some conclusion, Iroh looked up and smiled out of pity.

"You've gotten yourself in quite a bit of trouble, haven't you?" he said. Yang sighed and lowered his head.

"Just tell me what I need to do to keep my family safe," Yang whispered.

"Well, according to legend, the Tigress beheaded one of your past lives when he refused to marry her…" Iroh began.

"Yes, yes, I know the legend! Just how to I stop her?" Yang said.

"You have two options. Option #1: You behead her yourself. Now the side effects of doing that range from evil spirits being unleashed to having the one you hold closest to heart die. Although, the Tigress would have to first get to that someone before she disappears altogether. That is the harder of the options. Option #2: You marry the Tigress. From there anything is possible. You might be able to find out the one way to actually kill her with that option. All spirits have one weakness that only they know about. But according to legend, the Tigress is cursed to roam the Earth forever, unless she is wed. Now, since she was cursed for killing a past Avatar anyway, it is probably the safest bet that you marry her to break the curse. Perhaps she will feel so grateful that she will return to the Spirit World, although that theory is far fetched. If you wed her though, she just might tell you her one weakness," Iroh continued. Yang sighed with frustration.

They continued talking on late into the night about protection spells the Fire Sages could preform, the state of the city, and back to the subject of the Tigress once more.

"You have to decide soon you know. I'm sure she is on her way here right now. If you keep procrastinating with your decision, she will only continue to wreak havoc. Do you even know who summoned her? She couldn't have appeared on her own without someone commanding her to do so," Iroh said. Yang thought for a moment.

"It was most likely Long Feng. I saw him escape that night on the beach along with a few other rebels and Dai Li agents," Yang replied.

"Well, remember your options. You need to decide soon," Iroh said.

"I'll think about it," Yang mumbled frowning. Trying to lighten the mood, Iroh changed the subject.

"Now that we have discussed the more important matters, would you enlighten me on how you have fooled your wife and everyone else? Your disguise is truly intriguing." With a sly smirk, Yang reached for his water canteen.

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Meep… short filler chapter…. So, now I hope everyone knows who Yang really is and that everyone stops bombarding me with reviews saying so! (Sh! Katara doesn't know yet! XD) BTW: I edited the previous chapter! It was really bad before, but now I made it better (hopefully)! Um, next chapter will be epic and probably longer than like any other chapter I think. Well there are four more chapters (some will have several parts). The titles are: "The Wedding of the Tigress", "The Death of the Tigress", "Battle down South" (not definite), and the epilogue, "Revelations". Just thought I would let that slip since I abandoned this story for so long! Please review and thanks for reading!


	14. Chapter 11

Oi…

Oi…. Just… Oi… I haven't updated for like… 4EVER. And I feel really bad about it… So, I have no school today and I have decided to update. Hopefully I haven't lost my touch! X( Ummm…. 5-review limit is on!

**Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar. Quite frankly, if I did, people would be waiting even longer than the little hiatus that is going on now! XI**

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**the Wind Master**

**Ch. 11**

**Hidden Paradise**

Morning. The start of another day. These are the thoughts that ran through the waterbender's mind as she stirred. As Katara looked out of the window, it took a moment for her to remember where they were. Down below her window, people were using a systems of pulleys and lifts to get around, a colorful market was already bustling, and spectacular street performances were beginning and setting up for the day ahead. The light that filtered through the canopy cast a soft green light around underground city. _Of course, the underground city of the Order…_ Katara thought to herself, laughing. Gathering her bearings, she began to get herself ready for the day.

"Konari? Are you awake, sweetie?" Katara called softly into the room next door where her daughter was staying. The little girl was still asleep; her dark hair sprawled over the pillow. Smiling to herself, Katara tiptoed over and sat on the bed. "'Nari, dear, it's time to wake up." The little girl mumbled something that sounded vaguely like "Papa…" and continued to snooze. Sighing, Katara stood up slowly, as to not stir the girl. _I suppose she can sleep in today,_ she thought before she exited the room quietly.

Coming to the dining hall now, Katara saw that it was void of people except for Yang and Iroh, who sat at the opposite end of the long table. Their heads were together, whispering furiously. Upon noticing her entrance, Yang looked up and smiled at his friend. "Good morning, Katara. Did you sleep well?" he asked walking over. Smiling, yet robbed of words, she nodded. _He looks simply… dazzling in this light…_ Katara thought, noting how the light made his bright green eyes sparkle. Flashing a crooked smile (_So familiar… Katara thought_) Yang took her hand and led her over to the table. "We were just discussing our next plan. Iroh has a hunch about what the Tigress is after… and how to stop her," Yang said as he offered Katara a chair next to him. Finally finding her voice again, Katara answered.

"You have? And what would that be?"

"We believe the Tigress is after… your daughter, Konari. A long time ago, there was a conflict between the Tigress and a previous Avatar. She might not stop until she has captured Konari… and killed her. The only way we believe we could stop her would be f…" Iroh was cut off as Konari entered the hall.

Skipping over to the three, the little girl pecked both Katara and Yang on the cheek, smiling in a way that was not unlike how Yang has smiled earlier. "Good morning, Mama. Good morning, Yang," she said sweetly before climbing into the latter's lap. "Good morning, Mr. Iroh sir!"

"And good morning to you, little one! Ready to go on a tour of the city?" Iroh said kindly as Yang mouthed "We'll talk later" to Katara, who nodded before helping herself to some breakfast.

--

"… and make sure you stay close to Uncle Iroh and the guards. Don't talk to strangers and listen to everything Iroh tells you, alright?" Katara crouched in front of her daughter, securing a little pouch of money to the front of Konari's belt.

"Yes, Mama. How come you and Yang can't come?" the girl asked.

"We have important… stuff to do. But we'll meet up with you guys later for lunch, all right?" Konari giggled.

"Ooooh! Yang and Mama sittin' in a tree, k-i-s-s-i…"

"All right, get out of here, kiddo," Yang said as he entered. Giggling once more as her mother blushed, Konari ran out of the room to join Uncle Iroh. Chuckling to himself, Yang walked over to help the Waterbender up.

"Thanks," she mumbled as she tried to hide her blush. Why did her daughter have to be so smart!? she thought furiously.

"She is something, isn't she?" he said fondly as they exited to the room.

"So, m'lady, what should we do today?" Yang asked as they toured the palace garden. "The child is out and about and we have the whole morning to ourselves." Katara smiled.

"Why don't we tour the city? Just the two of us. You said you've been here before." Smiling himself at the idea, Yang nodded.

"Where to first?"

--

The markets were magnificent when one took the time to examine them up close. The colors, the smells, the sounds… everything was overwhelming in a wonderful way. Exotic birds of every color, shape, and size, sang beautiful songs from their perches, content to come and go as they pleased. Rabbaroo joeys tussled playfully in a large cage as their mother watched. Messenger hawks flew through the air to the message post. Creatures that Katara hadn't even thought existed… yet this was only one-fourth of the entire market complex. There was still so much more to see.

As they walked on, the goods started to change from animals to clothing and jewelry. "Oh wow!" Katara exclaimed as they passed a stall selling rubies the size of a small child's head. Ropes of pearls, pearls that ranged from the purest white to the darkest black and every color in between, hung from the roofs of stands. Diamonds the size of Katara's fist caught the small amount of sunlight and threw back amazing colors. Bejeweled music boxes played melancholic tunes as small jade figures twirled on them. Silk robes told stories from the elaborate pictures embroidered carefully on their skirts and sleeves. It was all simply amazing.

"All of this, Yang… It's all wonderful! How on earth could a place like this be so… unknown?" Katara said as they came to the market square. A few yards away a group of acrobats were performing. Their colorful costumes reminded Katara of the birds they had seen a while back as they leapt and swung through the trees; dazzling the audience.

"Quite frankly, I think the people who live here… like it that way. It's the way of Paradise, Katara. Don't you think it would ruin the thrill of it all if the world knew about it? People would take advantage of it. After all, it is supposed to be a place for desperate refugees with absolutely nowhere else to go. It's a place for people on the run from Fire Nation rebels and other dangerous groups alike. They are happy being hidden here," Yang said looking around.

"Mama!" came a little voice some ways ahead of the couple. Yang and Katara turned to see Konari running down the street, staff at hand and Momo flying just above her shoulder, towards them as Iroh and a couple of guards chased some ways behind. People in the street parted, making way for their leader and the strange little girl with the staff and lemur. "Mama! Yang!" Konari said happily as she hugged herself around her mother's legs.

"Hey, 'Nari! What've you guys been up to?" Katara said as she lifted the child to her hip.

"Oh, Mama, the city is so cool! We saw the animals and the candy and all of the cakes and stuff and all of the pretty clothes! Look! Uncle Iroh bought me this pretty jewelry box!" Konari exclaimed holding up a small jewelry box. It was tiny, small enough to fit in the palm of Katara's hand. It was covered in silk and on the silk was a beautiful winter scene. White, black, and dark blue birds flew in the scene and delicate-looking flowers danced in the snowy breeze along the bottom. On the side of the box was a slim woman dressed in long, silvery robes. A veil of long dark hair hid her face. In her dainty fingers she held a parasol that seemed to sparkle above her head. If you looked long enough, the elegant figure seemed to float across the fictional winter landscape.

"This is beautiful, Konari. Did you pick this out?" Katara said as she studied the music box. Konari shook her head.

"Nuh uh. Uncle Iroh did. Look, look! It plays the lullaby that Yang sang for me that one time." When they opened the box, a small figure that apparently was the woman from the front twirled. Made of white marble and pale green jade, she was beautiful. On the top of her small parasol was a tiny pearl. The eerie tune of the lullaby came from within. "Cool, huh?" Konari said happily as the song ended and she took the box back. Finally, Iroh and his guards caught up.

"Konari, what did I tell you about running off?" Iroh said panting.

"Hey, it's all right, Iroh. No harm done. She just wanted to show us her music box that you got her," Yang said. Iroh smirked and turned to Katara.

"Well, now that we've all had our exercise for the day, why don't we get some lunch?"

--

Night. The end of another day. It had been a wonderful day in Katara's eyes. A peaceful walk around the city with Yang, a wonderful lunch with Iroh, Yang, and her daughter, and now here she was, sitting in the city park. In front of the bench she was sitting on, a little stream gurgled. Above, the full moon shone through the windows that earthbenders had opened an hour before to let the starlight through. Light footsteps sounded behind Katara. She jumped slightly and turned.

"Hey," came Yang's airy voice. Katara relaxed.

"Hey," she replied as she turned back to the stream. Walking around, Yang sat next to her.

"What are you doing here? The moon got you up?" Katara nodded. For a while, they sat there in silence, observing the sleeping city around them. Deciding to finally break the silence, Yang spoke up.

"So, how did you like it? The city I mean…" Katara smiled and turned to face him.

"It was… words couldn't describe how absolutely… It was wonderful. I'm really glad it was just you and I too. If 'Nari was with us… well you heard her before she left this morning with Iroh." Yang chuckled.

"She's something, isn't she?" Katara chuckled also. Blushing, though, she looked away. The memory of her daughter's words earlier that day, no matter how childish, seemed to affect Katara even more as she sat next to Yang in the moonlight. _Is it really that obvious? Ugh… I feel 14 all over again…_ Katara thought to herself. As if reading her mind, Yang chuckled again.

"There's nothing wrong with feeling young again." Katara didn't look at him as Yang said this, but she blushed harder and smiled. They sat in silence once more. After feeling Yang's gaze on her for a little while, Katara finally turned back towards him. He was smiling softly at her, a look so gentle and loving in his eyes that Katara blushed once more. Before she knew it, his soft lips were on hers and she was soaring through the skies once more like so long ago.

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afjlkjlfjfjaeiraiof (head meets keyboard) UGH. SO SO SO SO SORRY for not updating since JANUARY! And with this filler chapter too! Quite frankly, I hate filler chapters… sobs Do forgive me… sniff Review please! aldjfajfiejfajdi (head meets keyboard once more)


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